Environmental Protection

On my last post I talked about how I missed the smell of a real tree in my home for the holidays. I decided not to spend the high prices on the trees I saw for sale, but instead I would cut one down on my property. As I walked across the field and down into the back pasture I was met with a dismal sight. The property next to mine had been logged off . I knew they were planning to build a house there, but I had no inkling of them cutting the trees. I never thought they would.

I have always had a great affinity for trees - oaks, firs, maples, birches, - the towering sentinels of growth. I have seen my share of logging and, although I agree with one's right to do what one pleases on one's land, it is always distressing for me. I have wept when such grand testaments to survival are destroyed.

New growth does return. I expect the property beside me will soon host a lovely vale that feeds the deer. I also love deer!

There is other new building around my area. What used to be a golf putting range turned into a housing development years ago. Two neighboring homes have been remodeled to over twice the size. The old 100 acre farm is now a dead end street that boasts million dollar homes. My property was purchased by my parents in 1949 as a two room cabin without a bathroom. My father, artist Carl Hall, built onto the house as he added children to his family moving his painting studio as he went. It is a pleasant home but not up to snuff I'm sure for the newer, more financially endowed homeowners.

I am working diligently to make this property into a sanctuary for native wildlife and for those of us who have observed the decline in our communion with Nature. My tether to Nature is the trees, the grass that grows here and the streams that flow here. I hope you can join me in protecting Mother Nature in your little part of the world.

I did cut down a tiny tree that was in a poor location. But I don't believe I will ever do it again. It seemed a little selfish of me to use it's life to cheer my own.