Treephilia

Each year we do the Global Earth Exchange to honor trees—all trees, around the world, that have been cut down, harmed, or maimed by human activity; we do so by focusing on one small, local area where we know trees used to stand. This year we honored the land where a grove of native trees had been cut and removed to make room for a horse barn. On this same property are ornamental trees, planted by the owner; one such tree is a well-established paulownia. I had collected the purple blossoms from the paulownia after they fell from the tree last month and laid them out to dry. Our RJ bird this year is constructed solely of these dried paulownia flowers. We constructed him atop the gravel that had been laid down as a pathway for the horses residing here. The most tragic thing is that the trees’ removal was for naught: a series of calamities in the past month has led to the decision to move the horses elsewhere and abandon the horse property project that began with the removal of alders and firs.