Tree Work

/ nagneberg48

June 6, 2024

Turning to the day
and to each other
        We open ourselves to the day
        and each other.

This is the day that the Lord Has made
and a day we'll have to make our way through.
                 from Being Here, Prayers for Curiosity, Justice and Love by Padraig O Tuama

What a sad week for our block. We lost fourteen friends earlier this week. Diseased ash trees marked for destruction.

I took a memorial Monday morning, saying goodbye to the tress marked with a green end of life ring. I thanked them for their gifts of beauty and shade and shelter for birds and squirrels. To those allowed to live, I encouraged them to continue growing and to stay well. I thanked them for their ongoing presence.

We have been told that trees communicate with each other, and I wonder what their last conversations were. Did they say goodby to each other? How did they recognize and honor one another?

Before arriving home from my walk the trucks and workers had arrived, and the signs blocking sidewalks and streets were in place.

I defied the warning of danger and walked the last block home, instead of the alley. A couple neighbors stood on their steps as the action began, and I greeted them, “It’s a sad day.” “How different it will be,” one replied.

I was drawn to the snug, the room at the front of the house, feeling a need to be a witness to the lives that were ending. I moved my laptop from the garret to the desk in the snug, even though I knew the noise would be disruptive. That felt like the least I could do.

The noise began and as each tree lost its life, I heard a kind of death rattle. The men in their yellow vests did their jobs. Expertly, respectfully, but even though I know trees have life spans, too, and are subject to disease, this felt like a failure. And now those of us left will need to adjust to a new reality. That includes the birds and the squirrels. Some may lose their nests, even, but at the very least a playground, their perch and window on the world.

As Padraig O Tuoma says in his prayer, “This is the day that the Lord has made and a day we’ll have to make our way through.

Writing a Collect

In Being Here, O Tuoma’s new book of prayers, he includes a collect for each of the 31 days of meditations. A collect, pronounced with the emphasis on the first syllable, COLLect, is a form of “collecting something; namely your intention and desire, your reflection and attention, your gratitude, and your need for containment.” O Tuoma explains that the collect has five folds:

  1. Name the one you’re praying to
  2. Unfold the name of the one you’re praying to
  3. Name one desire
  4. Unfold the desire you’ve names
  5. Finish with a bird of praise

Bird of praise? Well, O Tuoma, doesn’t really know either, but says why not? Most collects I’ve read end simply with an Amen.

He simplifies the form even more:

  • Address
  • Say more
  • Ask one thing
  • Say more
  • End

Here is an example of a collect from Being Here:

Grandmothers of Jesus,
In your stories we hear of your
courage and creativity,
your tenacity,
and the things you faced down.
Here, today, we stand in the time after you
and look back,
with gratitude for stories like yours
that help us live today.
Help us live today
in all the stories of our lives
so that we can stand in your great
ache and wash.
Amen.

It occurs to me to write a collect, addressing the trees on our block, as a way to mark the day. Collects most often address God, by the way, but that is not always the case. In fact, Sunday I wrote a collect to my calendar and list for the week, giving thanks for the ways they remind me to be in the world, to use my gifts and energy, and to remember to pause. Here’s my collect for the trees:

Oh dear trees, sacred trees
Signs of God's love for all creation.
Reminders of the genius and beauty 
of diversity, of transformation, of the need 
for both grounding and stretching.
You have graced us with your presence, 
given shelter and protection,
inspired us 
as teachers, revealers, companions.
May our lives, even as we mourn your loss,
be signs of God's divinity on earth.
May we nurture new growth
both within our hearts
and along the avenues of our lives.
Amen.

An Invitation

Has there ever been a special tree in your life? I would love to know.

16 thoughts on “Tree Work”

  1. Thanks. I think of this each time I touch our black ash burls. Might be the end of the line. MS

    Merrie Sue Holtan, assistant professor, emerita Communication and Journalism

    Minnesota State University Moorhead Moorhead, Minnesota

    Independent Contract Writer Author of “Power and Stride” The Nancy Burggraf Story – book and documentary 701-261-6144

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  3. We had to do the same in our township in Pennsylvania for the same reason: diseased and therefore potentially dangerous ash trees that could eventually fall and crush a house or car or people. We also had a huge ash tree removed from next to our deck, same reason. What our township is doing to replace the ones removed: planting hundreds of replacement trees. That’s the only suggestion I got. ;/

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  4. Nature’s air-conditioning as my grandfather used to say. We did take out a tree years ago. In this case, it was planted much to close to our house. Few benefits and lots of trouble. We replaced it with a much better suited variety. It started out, 6 feet tall, now well over 30 feet. Providing much shade and beauty to our yard.

    Linda

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  5. I love trees. It’s heartbreaking when they have to come down. Our next door neighbor has a HUGE mulberry tree in between our houses. Even though it’s beautiful and offers shade and privacy, not to mention shelter for so many birds and squirrels, it has been an extreme nuisance to us because of the mulberries. Every June for many years, we’ve had to contend with thousands of mulberries falling onto our roof, into our gutters, all over our pathway to the patio, and the patio itself. The berries rot and attract flies. They clog the gutters. They make our patio useless for about 6 weeks, not to mention the horrible staining. Long story short, the newer neighbor that lives there now is finally having his son start to take down the tree. The young man was up in the tree yesterday afternoon with a small chainsaw, sawing off branches. It looks a lot better already. However, as much as that tree has aggravated us every June for years, it made me sad to see it being cut down. The tree itself – the trunk, branches and leaves – is beautiful. We have a nice view of it out our living room window and have always loved seeing squirrels chasing each other and woodpeckers pecking at it. It’s also been a nice source of privacy between our two houses. Yesterday evening when the young man was done with his work, we saw a squirrel run up the trunk and was looking around. It looked so confused. Hurt my heart. I know there’s a squirrel nest way up in that tree and I wondered if that is its nest. 😦

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  6. Thank you, Nan. This post brought tears to my eyes. (I’m catching up on my reading. Still working with just one eye until my surgery in October. It’s slowed my screen time.) Those majestic trees you shared and immortalized in your tribute and photos. In my faith, we have a special festival to honor the trees. But for me, it was my uncle’s connection to them that really opened a pocket in my heart for trees and inspired by move to CT from NY in many ways. If you wanna a laugh along with another tribute from a kindred soul: https://lisabernard.wordpress.com/2023/02/02/tu-bshevat-or-not-tu-bshevat-never-a-question-for-me-because-i-was-raised-to-celebrate-the-trees

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