We were home a few weekends ago, and I feel like I have to report some news. Those who live in perpetual 70 degrees may not be aware but its been a particularly brutal winter in the great north. We like to think it makes us tougher, more able to withstand life's hardships, but none can deny that this winter has taken its toll. And it is my great displeasure to have to tell you that the sugar maple that has sat at the edge of 7028 Winding Trail for as long as any of us can remember may have taken a fatal blow. So this is my ode to a tree that all of us have enjoyed.
Its buds in the springtime were one of the first true signs that the long cold winter was over. As generations of red robins returned to the state that has honored them as their "State Bird", this tree provided a home, a place for nests and bright blue eggs. Its deep green leaves in the summer provided shade, a canopy to lay under. It lovingly received hundreds of wiffle ball home runs from front yard baseball games. Its colors in the Fall made it easy to love Michigan, our greatest season, football, rakes, and smoke. And now it has become a casualty of the winter. It withstood decades of snow and ice but this year the weight was too much and the broken branches might signal the end of an era. So to close this ode, I have some questions for this tree, starting with how many times have I climbed you?? Did Chris Voris ever climb you in parachute pants? Did Tony Broger ever TP you on devils night? Did the Gaines boys ever ward off would be attackers as we hid in the bushes defending our home on devils night? What kind of mischief did BJ Willey cause you? Did Bo ever corner the Willey's cat up you? How many times did Alex Craig mow around you? And finally, would Brennan have ran into you if he hadn't bolted out of bounds when there was nothing but endzone in front of him? "Had I not, I would have ran into THAT TREE!!"
We used to laugh when the Mr. Rogers record sang, "Tree, tree, tree, we love you!" but now I know what he was singing about. I'm going to miss that tree if it has to go.
And for those tired Midwesterners enjoying this week's brief reprieve from the cold dark winter (60 tomorrow in Fort Wayne), I remind you that there is no greater feeling than that first warm day after a frigid winter! It is like being reborn!! Baseball bats will soon be cracking! This is why we live here!
7 comments:
i'll miss that tree too, wes. i remember it was such a good tree to climb. and i also remember resting in the shade many times in the summer months. so, i was sad to hear that old man winter hit hard, and the sugar maple didn't have enough to fight back. i think an ode to that tree is appropriate.
in a norm lampi, 'THEY WERE HERE FIRST' sentiment, i would like to echo wes' ode. that tree was as much a part of my childhood as anything. growing up in michigan, where we did, i had a special affection for trees. i always had the sense that everything around me had consciousness. the apples, the leaves, the birds, the rocks, the bicycles, the sugar maple...everything. it made me feel safe and it made me want to protect everything around.
one of my other favorite childhood memories was around the age of 4, planting a tree with mom on the north side of the yard. it is, too, a maple; must be about 20-30 years old now. i'd like to remember the fallen sugar maple as a great tree. and also remember the other great trees in the yard at 7028.
Sugar Maple and 'North Maple' a index finger knuckle to the Northwest:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=7028+Winding+Trail,+Brighton,+MI+48116&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=29.440076,47.724609&ie=UTF8&ll=42.487875,-83.812374&spn=0.001669,0.002913&t=h&z=18
Perhaps it's trees like this that served as inspiration for poets like Shel Silverstein. That maple is certainly our "giving tree". It's obviously given many a memory down through the year.
I'll add that it in some way that tree gave me a shot at making the Brighton High golf team as a freshman. I spent hours in the front yard chipping over the blacktop green side stream to that wooden flag stick. That touch game in handy on the 18th at Oak Point when I chipped in from off the green to make the golf team by one stroke. That tree gave me those memories with of Mike Sanderson shaking his head in shame at me as I missed a 6 footer that I'll cherish forever! Thank you sugar maple.
dude, it's a tree.
Since when, Jeff? Since when.
I loved the ODE Wes; it was beautiful!
You'll have to forgive Jeff...When our neighbor's yard is lined with pines as a barrier from your own yard... it is hard to appreciate one special tree.
Who would have thought that Mr. Roger's song, "Tree tree tree" would be so profound. Thank you Mr. Rogers and thank you Wes, Jake, and Andrew for the fond memories of days gone by. The tree may soon be out of sight....but never out of mind.
And Jeff... maybe you need to hug a tree today.
I somehow think that Jim Craig resigning from the School District Sup position was the beginning of the end for that ole tree.
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