Photo by Chuck Seggelin
You don’t need to explain to children that trees are good things to have because they can tell you with all honesty how great it is to have trees around. But of course, how can something that you can climb, or swing on, or pick fruit from not be pretty great? How can something that can provide comfort to people and give a home to wildlife not be a good thing?
I guess that in children’s eyes, it is easy to see what is good and what is not. Or is it because children are more connected with nature that they appreciate trees more often than we do?
Coming from a third-world country where most people don’t know how to take care and give back to nature, I was taken aback upon reading the local news about one-seventh of Coggshall Park’s trees being cut this summer. I certainly don’t want to see the same thing that happened in my hometown happening again in Fitchburg because as a kid, I’ve always loved climbing on trees. All my summer days were spent outside the yard playing with my cousins and swimming in that part of the river shaded by an enormous century-old Balite tree. I may not know anything about forestry, but I do know that cutting trees are killing them forever!
My one-year old daughter loves Coggshall Park as much as I do and although she cannot fully express herself well, I know that she feels sad about trees being cut. I’m sad, too, because it takes a lifetime to grow a tree. Who knows, some of those trees being cut could be two hundred years old or more. Who knows, some of those trees could be the oldest trees in the city. For me, they are not just worth $77,000. For me, they are priceless.