One Tree Matters!

THE SILENT VOICE OF TREES AND THE HIDDEN PRICE OF CIVILIZATION. PART TWO

The world progresses… Define progress, please!
The more we learn, the more we forget. We have comfort, technology, incredible discoveries and tools and many live unhappy and isolated lives. Cities grow taking with them every vestige of life’s wilderness, mysteries, and natural beauty.

We have the most amazing planet and choose concrete and glass cages to overrun the potential for a well-balanced modern life that allows soulful living. Don’t misunderstand me, I like comfort-quality living and I’m grateful to the many technological, medical and social advances. Leaving aside all esoteric or spiritual wisdom, I just believe that awareness and respect for our environment and its many life forms, is not only a “green” attitude; it might prove a necessary one for our survival.

A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself.
Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.
― Franklin D. Roosevelt

Humans have destroyed a tenth of Earth’s remaining wilderness in the last 25 years and there may be none left within a century if trends continue. To date, we have extracted approximately 23 billion tons of resources from the Earth. That’s this year alone. It’s a continuous practice in spite of our best efforts to change.

Our natural ecosystems are finding it hard to cope with the different pressures and are unable to adjust. If we continue depleting resources and destroying our environment, soon it will be too late for them to recover, even with our help.

Man is constantly aware of the influence of nature in the form of the air he breathes, the water he drinks, the food he eats, and the flow of energy and information. Many of our challenges are a response to the natural processes and changes in the weather. In short, we are connected with nature by “blood” ties and we cannot live outside it.

The ecological crisis is a matter of all. Finding solutions might be a complex issue; but we can start today, by understanding that only a combined effort of individuals, enterprises, and countries, linked with a clear awareness of our role in planetary ecological responsibility, can help protect our environment and our kid’s future.

The wonder is that we can see these trees and not wonder more.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

One simple action is a worthy cause, as the compound effect of every one of us, caring for the tree in our yard and/or on the street, multiplies the number of trees standing, forcing our city authorities and organizations to promptly and efficiently take measures to prevent diseases, overgrown roots and cutting trees; or replanting one without delay when there’s no other choice.

The huge stump out there squeezes my heart; it stands as a reminder of a beautiful sight that made me happy every morning with the birds and squirrels going on with their business in its lost haven of green, shade and protection. Every time I saw this tree, I thought of fairy tales and hidden treasures; the many things it might have seen and heard, the secrets and wisdom it kept disguised in the shape of a tree.

I have moved many times over my life, no matter if renting a room or a small apartment, every one of my searches has been influenced, if not determined, by two things: trees in the area and a big window where I can see them. I am convinced that it is my abiding friendship with nature which has kept me unusually young and healthy throughout my life, for this fellow kinship with nature energizes most of my activities.

As I looked for organizations that could understand my pain and help me plant a new tree, I found a myriad of links to videos and sound snaps of nature, trees, rain; you name it. What an irony! Nature, rain, trees are still here, but we draw on apps and internet to enjoy them?

Will be there an oxygen app to download in the future? A tree shade, a water app? A virtual reality game to experience the sound of leaves, a cool breeze, climbing a tree? Because if we keep cutting trees and feeling entitled to destroy nature, instead of finding ways to co-habit and respectfully share this world; we might need them.