Monday, April 9, 2012

Thoughts on trees


Arboretum: "tree-garden," 1838, from L. arboretum, lit. "a place grown with trees"  ~ http://www.etymonline.com/

How does a place become an arboretum as opposed to a forest?

The difference must lie in the spaces between the trees. The garden, the lawn, the paths where one can stand and contemplate the contrast between tree and not-tree. In the forest, such distinctions blur into canopies and shadows. All is tree.

I like forests. I like trees in their unlabelled, unclassified state. Arboretums are tree-zoos: spaces to preserve and exhibit a waning kingdom.

In a perfect world, suburbs would not exist and cities would be ringed with forests.

In an imperfect world, we have cities with arboretums and I live in the suburbs.

If I could choose, I'd rather live in the arboretum. The suburbs come in shades of beige and they don't smell like spring.

2 comments:

  1. the photos are gorgeous.
    and the writing is full of imagery.

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  2. I just read a sort of photo book about trees (some Irish man's book of his favorite trees in the UK, but the title escapes me at the moment.) I like that you "like trees"--they can be something so easy to pass up, but when you really stop and look (or notice when they are missing in a suburban sprawl, for instance) trees are quite nice to have around...just some more thoughts on trees. Always nice to see/read your musings on the natural world!

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