Tuesday, September 13, 2016

A tree is not just a tree


Don Enss

When President Reagan uttered “a tree is a tree,” he only demonstrated his ignorance of the roles that trees have play in humans lives since the beginning.  Sadly, he did not stop to think that there are trees in the United States that have been here much longer than he or us, in fact much longer than our country has existed.  His cavalier comments might have played well to those who see only trees as a source of firewood, building materials, paper products and so much more, but they display a lack of respect for the role trees have played in protecting our climate, of providing habitats for other creatures, and for human beings all over the world,

This morning on the way to class, I stopped at an old maple tree and wondered if it was here when MTSU first opened. How many students have walked passed it? How many professors? And until this morning I was probably like most. I had walked passed it countless times without stopping to take a look at it, to touch its bark, to gaze at its scars and wounds, most inflicted by man.  For a moment it provided a shady respite from the sun and I thought about it being stationed there through all of the storms, through all of the seasons with no place to seek shelter, no way to shield its roots from the mower blades and no one to complain to.


No Mr. Reagan, a tree is not just a tree and I am sorry that you did not realize that.

2 comments:

  1. I agree to many people go through their day without experiencing or realizing that some of the most interesting and beautiful things we may see all day are the trees around us, the landscapes that we walk over everyday but seldom if ever take a second to look at and appreciate and realize what we've been missing everyday

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  2. Oncelers we are, most of us, not speaking for the trees. Arbor Day needs to be re-booted, as a major holiday. Away with the Lorax!

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