Just a bunch of trees


 

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                                     I Like it Here Huntsville's Five Points neighborhood is where I've lived for almost 50 years. So yes, I definitely like it here. I can’t remember why I first felt the attraction and came under the “spell” of Five Points. I’m sure though that the neighborhood’s shady, tree-lined streets were one of the big reasons. That is why it concerns me when I see something I’ve been noticing more and more lately. Five Points is losing trees, slowly but surely. This is inevitable, of course, given that trees are living entities with finite lifespans. Then too, their lives can be shortened by disease, storms, and the like. We also lose trees because some homeowners (sometimes the city as well) decide they’re too much trouble, or in the way of a project, pose a threat of property damage, or possibly even endanger personal safety.  Some tree loss of cou...
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The Trees

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 On Joyce Kilmer's "The Trees" A vintage poem, familiar to many I suspect because it was a big hit for decades and a poem which has remained popular over the years. It's not one that's held in high regard by serious poetry fans, though. I'm not sure why I thought about that poem all of a sudden. Perhaps it was because of the last line, "But only God can make a tree." And maybe because I've been living in Alabama for almost 50 years. That is, in the heart of the Bible Belt, in a state that's a stronghold of evangelical Christianity.  My thinking about Kilmer's poem includes wondering this: How many evangelical folks have cut down a tree, perhaps because it had become an inconvenience ... without consulting God or asking permission to kill a tree that was a part of His or Her creation? (Or ... without asking forgiveness after the fact either?)  I can imagine a brief conversation: "Sir (or Ma'am) -- have you done that? Did it occur ...
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  For the Sake of Trees, Let’s Talk About Football Published as op-ed article in Huntsville Times, 4-19-20 This is about football … and trees. I say that because I’d like to get a lot of people’s attention, and I’ll explain the connection shortly. But first I need to touch on the subject of trees. As many Huntsville residents know, we live in a “Tree City USA.” Such a designation is made annually by the National Arbor Day Foundation and Huntsville has received it 29 times. This is gratifying to those of us who love and value trees, who realize that trees are a huge contributor to a high quality of urban life. What’s not so well known is that the Tree City USA designation is based on meeting four standards: (1) having a municipal Tree Commission; (2) having a tree-related ordinance in the municipal code; (3) holding an annual Arbor Day observance; and (4) funding urban forestry work at a level of $2 per capita per year, which in the case of Huntsville means spending at least $400,00...
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