It has been a while since I have shared anything on this blog. As we enter the “slow” season for arborists in the tree service industry, it is a great time to reflect on the past year and plan for the coming year. This involves doing projections for the business, prognosticating the continued spread of Emerald Ash Borer and making sure equipment is maintained and ready for the upcoming season.
The winter months have also given me a moment to reflect on what I and many others enjoy about this industry. Many of us enjoy being outdoors and being “in nature” (at least as close to “in nature” as one can be in the urban forest.) I recently read Peter Camenzind by Hermann Hesse which, in part, is about man’s relationship with nature and the benefits of taking a moment to enjoy being outdoors and to appreciate what is around you. This reminded me of a tree I saw earlier this year and it’s story:
This 132 ft tall, 193 inch circumference Pecan tree, growing along a lonely road next to a flood plane in South County, St.Louis is the largest in the state. It is not in great shape, nor is it a particularly attractive tree, but it is a survivor and certainly has “character”. Herman Hesse described trees as “warriors”. This one has been battling floods, storms, construction damage and decay for decades.
A gentleman named Ralph Peppers walked by this tree on his daily walks for almost 20 years. It wasn’t until his 86-year-old mother came for a visit and commented on the size of the Pecan, that Ralph even considered that it may be a state champion. This was in 2006. She died in 2007. Ralph called the Department of Conservation 2 years later, who measured it and made it the State Champion.
Ralph Peppers and countless others had driven and walked by this tree for decades and it’s uniqueness simply blended into the surrounding forest. It wasn’t until a 86-year-old woman, visiting from Alabama, looked up and wondered aloud about whether this was the largest Pecan she had ever seen, that the tree took its place in the record books.
Even in the field of arboriculture, there is monotony. How many Maple trees that need their canopies raised can you look at before every tree starts looking the same and the days begin to blend together? For those of us who enjoy being outdoors, it is good to remind ourselves how great it is to be outdoors and to be among “life”, while many others sit in cubicles working on machines. We may look at trees in the urban forest all day every day, but maybe we do have that minute to pull over on our drive to the next stop and check out that gigantic Pecan or that Ash that is exhibiting unique symptoms.
“You should let yourself be carried away, like the clouds in the sky. You shouldn’t resist. God exists in your destiny as much as he does in these mountains and that lake. It is very difficult to understand this, because man is moving further and further away from Nature, and also from himself. ”
–Peter Camenzind, Hermann Hesse
sebastian the arborist 