Posted 1:05 am Sunday, April 01, 2012
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Dare We Mess With Mother Nature?
Ahh springtime. The joys of a season far too short when the prospect of a scorching summer is mere weeks away. The joys of springtime for me include the Final Four — that great display of youthful talent and the prospect of miracles dropping in baskets as time expires. If ever the thrill of victory and agony of defeat could be tangibly demonstrated this is it.
Following March Madness the very next weekend is the Masters Golf tournament. The finest golfers in the world play on its most hallowed stage to pursue the coveted green jacket. Nerves of the most skilled competitors fray like curls in withering humidity. Phone calls between family members with, “are you watching this?” ring across the country.
If the joy of the Masters were only measured by the competition you would be leaving out the beauty nature provides in flora of its most groomed state. Dogwoods and azaleas nestles under towering pines leave one breathless even watching on their TV in the den.
Following March Madness the very next weekend is the Masters Golf tournament. The finest golfers in the world play on its most hallowed stage to pursue the coveted green jacket. Nerves of the most skilled competitors fray like curls in withering humidity. Phone calls between family members with, “are you watching this?” ring across the country.
If the joy of the Masters were only measured by the competition you would be leaving out the beauty nature provides in flora of its most groomed state. Dogwoods and azaleas nestles under towering pines leave one breathless even watching on their TV in the den.
A friend took me on a tour recently of his farm just on the edge of town. The thing he kept pointing out was the demise of many of his prized dogwoods. The delicate branches and blooms are truly a spectacle nature gives us each year worthy of stopping and gazing and gazing some more. My friend was troubled by the loss of his dogwoods. It was understandable.
Driving down the street recently it occurred to me our drought took a bigger toll than we may know when it came to our trees. Many trees died last year. You can tell the ones that died by whether or not they still have the dead leaves clinging to their branches. The tax the drought rendered on our trees was devastating.
Driving down the street recently it occurred to me our drought took a bigger toll than we may know when it came to our trees. Many trees died last year. You can tell the ones that died by whether or not they still have the dead leaves clinging to their branches. The tax the drought rendered on our trees was devastating.
Sometimes people get angry with developers when they remove trees from land they wish to use for new purposes. But there hasn’t really been an outcry over the indiscriminate clearing of trees throughout the Pine curtain by Mother Nature. You might think a group would consider taking her to court or at least passing an ordinance preventing her from acting so arbitrarily. But she is tough to prosecute even though evidence of her devastation is all around. I’m not even sure “Racehorse” Haynes or Buck Files could get her out of this pickle if the D.A. was lucky enough to find her at home to make an arrest and file charges.
Felonious use of scorching weather to scorch the landscape could carry a pretty big penalty. She could end up having to walk the side of the road planting saplings to atone for her irresponsible deeds.
But this isn’t the first time such a thing has happened. Maybe there is more to this than we can see. If in her wisdom Mother Nature made a select reduction of some of these trees in order to give the ones remaining the best chance of prospering in the future could our perspective be short-sighted?
Felonious use of scorching weather to scorch the landscape could carry a pretty big penalty. She could end up having to walk the side of the road planting saplings to atone for her irresponsible deeds.
But this isn’t the first time such a thing has happened. Maybe there is more to this than we can see. If in her wisdom Mother Nature made a select reduction of some of these trees in order to give the ones remaining the best chance of prospering in the future could our perspective be short-sighted?
Time is the only way to test such a theory. In the meantime, there are a few things we can control about our reactions to things we cannot fully comprehend. For instance, I would like to plant a dogwood to replace one of those that didn’t make it so someone can enjoy its beauty in years to come. Maybe that someone will be one of my grandchildren who could see and appreciate the beauty of one of nature’s beauties for the first time on my knee.
If you agree, perhaps several other dogwoods could be planted to start replacing some that were lost. We might just start something. Who knows?
There are still plenty of dogwoods blooming which means the Crappie are probably biting. Hauling in a few of those would probably be preferable to seeking an indictment of the old dear anyway because as we’ve all learned, “It’s not nice to mess with Mother Nature.
If you agree, perhaps several other dogwoods could be planted to start replacing some that were lost. We might just start something. Who knows?
There are still plenty of dogwoods blooming which means the Crappie are probably biting. Hauling in a few of those would probably be preferable to seeking an indictment of the old dear anyway because as we’ve all learned, “It’s not nice to mess with Mother Nature.
