| A chainsaw. Again. It’s noise fills the air on an otherwise beautiful Saturday morning, as I step out into the backyard to have a cup of coffee in the early October sun. Another tree going down in the neighbourhood. So I walk out the front door instead to spend a few minutes in the front garden. The neighbour across the street starts up his leaf blower. Turn to the newspaper (yes, we’re old school on the weekend) to learn that 800+ trees were cut down earlier this week on the west island of Ontario Place. The Ford Government is making way for a massive foreign-owned resort spa. It make you wonder. About priorities. About disconnection from nature. About the future. Why trees? Let’s count the reasons…A new book out by Guelph-based horticulturalist Martin Ford is a bright spot in the gloom, a testament to the wonder and the importance of trees. Why Trees? How to love trees is “dedicated to all people living in cities.” Martin writes of the many benefits of trees – including for our physical and mental health — and what trees need to be healthy and grow alongside us in our communities. Trees are climate heroes – they pump out oxygen so we can breathe; they shade us, cooling the earth and our homes; they shelter and feed birds, bees, butterflies, mammals; they soak up rainwater and help send it deep into the earth instead of cascading into roadways and basements. |
| Into the forest at Rattlesnake Point |
An afternoon at Rattlesnake Point is a welcome respite to escape the sound of chainsaws at home. We wander along a section of the Bruce Trail and intersecting loops in this Conservation Halton park along the Niagara Escarpment among 800-year-old cedars, towering oaks, maples, beech and hemlocks, with the crunch of acorns under foot. It’s both a refuge and a reminder of what is lost, piece by piece, tree by tree, as we bend the environment to our will. And at the same time, the young saplings stretching for the light along the trail are a tangible sign of hope, of regeneration and renewal. Each of us can make a difference by simply planting a tree — on our own property or in our community. One of the things I love about Martin’s book is that each section opens with a quote about trees, including this one from conservationist and ecologist Aldo Leopold: “Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for gods and poets, but humbler folk may circumvent this restriction if they know how. To plant a pine, for example, one need be neither god nor poet; one need only own a shovel.” |
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| Thanks for reading. Enjoy your day, — Stacey |
Philosophy
In defence of trees
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