Mary and I got away for one of those Thursday to Monday stays at the cabin. We worked a great deal outside in the cool spring air. We completed a little raking and clean up around the yard, carefully picked leaves out of the hosta garden and put up the deer fence around the garden. We took a couple of nice walks. The picture here is on Black Bear Lane on Friday, with a little snow on the ground.
We rescued 21 trees, of which 16 were red pine, 4 white pine and 1 white spruce. I planted 15 of the trees, mostly around the circle driveway, and brought 6 reds home to plant beyond the end of our lot. I should explain our practice of “tree rescue.” We often set out on a mission to save trees that have begun to grow near a roadside in the national forest. They have no future because they will be clipped off soon by mowing, grading, or snow plowing operations. So, we rescue them and bring them onto our land. Not all of them survive, but many do. The trees we saved this time were along Hunter Road and Board Bridge Road.
We also picked a few rocks while we were out rescuing trees and I added those rocks to the rock wall I am building to support the sidewall of the circle driveway.
There’s a historical perspective here. I used to dig up and transplant trees and pick rocks with my parents. Trees also occupy a good bit of my attention up north. It’s as though I have a personal relationship with them. Most days I take a walk on our nature trail and pass by all these trees to see how the kids are doing.
There’s a historical perspective here. I used to dig up and transplant trees and pick rocks with my parents. Trees also occupy a good bit of my attention up north. It’s as though I have a personal relationship with them. Most days I take a walk on our nature trail and pass by all these trees to see how the kids are doing.
- There’s the Colorado blue spruce that my Dad and I planted in the early 1990s. (1st pic below)
- There’s all the red pines that Linds, Dano and Mary and I planted in 1987-88 and they are marvelous 30’ trees now. (2nd pic below)
- There’s the 30’ red pine in a ways from Black Bear Lane. I dug this up from the side of the road; it was about 1’ foot tall and deformed into a pretzel-like shape. Not sure why I even bothered. In the last 20-some years it straightened up and grew into a great looking tree.
- There’s the huge red pine to the right of our driveway at Black Bear Lane. This represents the largest red I dug up that survived. It was about 5-6 feet tall and I had to dig a hole the size of a barrel to ensure I got most of its root system. (3rd pic below)
Most of the trees I dig up are 6” – 24” in height. But sometimes I might find a larger one and will give that tree a chance. Just this trip, I dug up 2 five-foot reds that were tipping at a 45-degree angle at the road’s edge. I thought they deserved a chance because they wouldn’t last the summer where they were.
Beyond the role that trees play in helping sustain the environment, and in creating a feeling of natural beauty and serenity, it’s fair to say that trees have significant emotive power for me.
We took a few walks throughout the weekend. Here's a picture with some fog rolling in.
We took a few walks throughout the weekend. Here's a picture with some fog rolling in.
