We’ve been trying to get some trees growing around our house. Let’s put it this way, I won’t be climbing in them anytime soon, even if I could get up in a tree without a ladder. I read a Chinese proverb that said the best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The next best time is now. How true that is.
It takes many years for a tree to mature; depending on what kind you plant. I guess most of us who have a few years behind us, are planting them for the next generation to enjoy. I think of the big maple trees we climbed in when I was young. The Jacob Sorenson family, who sold the farm to my parents, probably planted those trees. I can thank them for all the fun we had and the shade they provided. We spent many hot, muggy summer evenings sitting in the shade under those trees. We didn’t have air conditioning back then. We also rested there after eating the noon meal, before we headed back to the fields.
The grove of trees that is west of the house where we now live, were probably planted by Gullik Gullikson, a bachelor who lived in a small house in that grove of trees. There was also a two-story shed that was still standing when we were young. Both are long gone. Now the area is a haven for birds and wildlife. For three years, a doe has given birth to her fawns in the secluded safety of that grove of trees and brush. We love having those trees next to us. I can thank Gullik for those trees and our McClurg neighbors for leaving them standing and providing a place for wildlife and birds. Many of those trees are old and full of holes where the birds find refuge from the cold days and nights during the winter. We have a bird feeder and birdhouses in the trees on our side of the line fence. I suspect the Eastern Screech Owl, that ended up sitting in the rafters of our house when it was being built, has a home in one of those trees.
Call me a tree hugger if you want, but I find it hard to watch trees that have been growing for years, destroyed. I know I railed on about all the trees that were destroyed along Sherpe Road when the new highway was built. They were pushed down, put in piles, and burned. I looked at the plans and they could have left the trees on one whole side of the road. It wouldn’t have affected the highway, bike path, or the relocation of Sherpe Road. It would have provided a nice windbreak, sound barrier, and place for birds and wildlife. But I guess it’s easier to destroy than to work around something.
I also see a lot of trees disappearing along fence lines. Actually, the fence lines are disappearing too. Large corporations buy up the land for crop farming. The fences are the first to go, and then they cut down and burn the trees so they can have one large field. I now see open fields with hundreds of acres, like you would expect to see out west where the land is flat. You wouldn’t expect to see long, straight rows on the rolling countryside of the Coon Prairie. What happened to the strip cropping that our fathers practiced to preserve the land from eroding?
I realize that everything is changing in the world we live, and as farms and equipment get larger, we’ll see even more changing of the farm landscape from what it once was. The timber frame, red barns that dotted the countryside are disappearing too. Many that still stand, are falling apart from non-use and neglect. I can see the day coming when all those farmsteads will be gone, along with the trees that surrounded the houses, and they will become part of the large, open fields.
I know the local farmers who have increased the size of their farms are concerned about the land, but I wonder about the large, out of state, corporate owners. Do they care about how their farming practices may affect their neighbors? Another quote about trees could also include all those disappearing farmsteads. “The tree, which moves some to tears of joy; is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way.”
We are lucky that we live in the Driftless Area of Wisconsin, where we have an abundance of wild areas, with tree-covered hills and valleys, as far as the eye can see. I can’t imagine living in an area where we weren’t surrounded by this magnificent landscape. I should also mention that it’s hard to find a straight road anywhere in the area. We have lots of curves and crooked roads. Even the Kickapoo River is referred to as the Crooked River, because it meanders back and forth through the coulees. And to top it off, we only have three stoplights in the entire county to slow you down. Most people find that hard to believe when they’re used to a stoplight on every corner.
This is great country. We just need to be aware of how we treat the land, so future generations can enjoy it too. A few shade trees to enjoy wouldn’t hurt either.
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