Neighborhood Eco-systems

Oasis on the prairie

Tree With a View — Photo by White Feather

Where ever humans go, so goes the water. That’s how trees think anyway. Humans use a lot of water and so do trees. It is only natural for the trees to congregate in and around human towns. You can drive the plains and go long stretches without even seeing a tree but when you spot a green canopy of trees pop up on the horizon you know you are approaching a town.

Towns are like little island forests. Walking the neighborhoods of these towns is often like taking a nature walk. Many of the trees in my island forest were planted 50, 75, 100 years ago and they all have a story to tell.

Being a walker at this point in time, I walk through this arboreal eco-system every day. There is not a tree in my part of town that I do not know.

I know where all the fruit-bearing mulberry trees are. I try to eat some mulberries from each one of them each summer. It is a delightfully spiritual experience to stand under a mulberry tree gorging on mulberries. Often I never have to leave the public sidewalk to indulge in this intimate experience. There are also a few cherry trees and at least one peach tree who have come to expect annual visits from me.

Then there is that little strawberry patch growing behind the garage of the vacant house a couple of blocks away. I walk past that…