If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it does it make a sound? If a tree is cut down in your neighborhood and no one notices that it’s gone was it ever there?

Trees take up a lot of space, especially large ones like oaks or redwoods. The energy field around an old growth redwood tree or a gnarled old oak is intense and palpable, I can close my eyes and still feel the presence of this wizened old living thing. Have you ever hugged a tree? Try it sometimes. Spread your arms as wide as they can go, press your cheek against the rough ridges of its trunk and gaze upward towards the crown. Do this and you can feel the tree’s life force. “Tree hugger” is often a pejorative term used to describe environmentalists but I’m proud to count myself as one who enjoys the embrace of trees. I understand the connectedness of all living things, and a tree’s importance in the web of life. Among other things, trees literally breathe for the planet, taking in carbon dioxide and exhaling oxygen.

When I hear the sickening whine of a chainsaw and the subsequent explosive grinding of a wood chipper I know that someone in my neighborhood is taking down a tree. People have legitimate reasons for cutting down their trees, maybe they’re diseased or tearing up the sidewalk, but it still fills my heart with sadness to know that a living thing older than me has been permanently removed from the earth. It took 80-100 years for this tree to reach its current height and only a matter of hours for it to completely disappear.

When we first moved into our home our next door neighbor had this majestic tree growing in the center of his backyard. I think it may have been an aspen or something similar. Anyway it was at least 30 feet tall, thin and tapering to a point at the top. On windy days when the sun was shining the leaves of this tree would shimmer and sway, making a shushing sound. I loved this tree and thought that it was just so beautiful. One day I head the sound of a chainsaw, came outside to find that this guy was chopping down the tree! When I asked him why he was removing the tree he told me he was going to plant a garden in its place and anyway he was tired of raking up the leaves in fall. Well, the garden never went in and soon after the guy moved out. It was devastating to witness the cutting of this tree. For the longest while afterwards it felt as if the tree were still there, its energy still lingered in the space.

When a large tree is removed it leaves such a void. I’ll walk through my neighborhood past the spot where a tree had recently been cut down and notice that something is different, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. Was there a tree here? It’s strange how I once walked past here on a regular basis but now can’t say for sure whether or not there had ever been a tree here. It’s kind of like that “phantom limb” phenomenon that amputees experience where they’ll feel pain or other sensations in an arm or leg that’s no longer there. I guess in this case you could call it “phantom tree” phenomenon. The tree’s no longer there but I can still sense its presence.

The view that dominates our kitchen window is that of a majestic red oak tree that grows in the yard of a house in the next court over from ours. It’s the classic oak, rising maybe 40 feet into the air and perfectly shaped in a kid’s storybook kind of way. I love to watch the seasons change through the cycles of this tree.  In its bare winter branches I regularly see large groups of cedar waxwings and robins. Our neighborhood Cooper’s hawk sits up there too, scanning the area for unsuspecting songbirds to munch on. In spring the branches gradually leaf out until around late March when it is dressed in its summer green coat. In fall its leaves turn yellow and shimmer in the autumn sun. One morning a few years ago to my dismay I noticed a crew of workers roped into the tree and bearing chainsaws. I started to see branches fall and couldn’t bear to watch anymore. However, after a couple of hours the workers descended from the tree and the work seemed to have been concluded. The next day  I walked over to the house and met the owner. I asked about his tree and he told me he was just having it trimmed and shaped. He loved the tree and wouldn’t dream of cutting it down. Chalk one up for the tree huggers!