Matching Tracksuits

Fun in Fours

Sacred and Profane

Saturday 7 February 2009 | general

Where I grew up, we didn’t have many trees. There was a maple in the backyard that, by the time I was in high school, was of decent size, but otherwise, bare. It was one of those “modern” developments: raze everything and build houses.

Our house has a fair number of trees, and I’m fond of them all. Sure, it’s a mess in the autumn, but they provide oxygen, summer noise reduction, and shade. And they’re simply lovely. All trees.

Our neighbor, two houses down, doesn’t think so.

DSC_3558
1/640, f/6.3, 120 mm

He apparently sees the annoyance factor, for this week he chopped down an enormous poplar that was in his front yard and cutting the heads off all his other trees.

DSC_3564
1/500, f/5.6, 100 mm

To be fair, the poplar was leaning over his house, and that is the crux of the issue: protecting one’s home often takes precedence over nature. With lawnmowers, mouse traps, and chainsaws, we subdue our small square of land.

DSC_3566
1/500, f/5.6, 170 mm

It’s how we mark our territory for other species. “Mine: stay out.”

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