Trees

by Jane Vest

At a time when the trees are leafless, one is reminded of Joyce Kilmer's poem "Trees." It begins "I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree." A tree's structure conveys strength and grace, its branches emerging from the trunk in a pattern pleasing to the eye. It sways in the wind, but will it break? Remember the old nursery rhyme "Rock a bye baby on the tree top, when the wind blows, the cradle will rock"? Its source may have been the fact that mothers, working in the fields planting or harvesting, hung a cradle or cradle board on the branches of a nearby shady tree.

Mankind has always made use of trees for warmth, shelter, creature comfort, food, and medication to soothe his fevers and his ills.

Because of his awe and dependency on trees, early man invested them with indwelling spirits who were either guardians of the trees, the dryads of Greek mythology, or the powerful gods of the Celts. The Norsemen perceived the YGGDRASIL as the wide-spreading tree on which the fate of the world depended.

The Buddha sat beneath the branches of the Bo tree and in meditation received enlightenment.

The tree in the Garden of Eden became the instrument of man's fall from grace, and eventually metamorphosed into the tree which is the symbol of the Christian religion, the cross.

Even today trees are essential for the well-being of all the inhabitants of the earth. They mitigate the effects of air pollution; their roots anchor the soil and prevent erosion and landslides. Progress and synthetics have eliminated many of their former uses, but their esthetic value cannot be denied.

Do you remember the avenue of trees lining the west end of Main Street in Owego? All gone, struck down by disease.

So far the hills around us are still tree-covered. Let us hope that will continue for many years so that we may enjoy the blaze of color in the fall.