It’s 4:19 pm on the day when A Few Thoughts is due, and I’m just getting to it. It’s been on my mind, but my mind has not been coming up with a good subject, which is not a new phenomenon, but one I’ve not had trouble with for at least a while, however long a while might be. Maybe a couple of years. It’s been so easy to go with “politics.”
But I’m about sick of politics (who ain’t) and particularly sick of certain politicians who, in spite of their mental maladies seem to get support from fellow loonies and not a few folks who seem to otherwise have their heads screwed on sorta straight. I don’t understand. I’ve been thinking about trees, though, which I sorta understand, so I think I’ll write about them.
There are 73,000-plus species of trees in the world, according to Google AI. Somehow, 9,000 of those haven’t been discovered. How this is estimated, I have no idea, but it gives me a lift to think there are things yet to be discovered on this orb. Deducting the undiscovered still leaves 64,000 tree species, of which I know maybe one tenth of a percent; about 64. But most of the ones I know, I admire.
Trees are the epitome of patience, strength and beauty, not to mention survival techniques. They split rocks; divert streams; ruin sidewalks; plug sewer lines; give other plants shade needed to survive; hold up swings, treehouses and hunting stands; and host birds, reptiles, mammals, insects, gastropods, lichens, mosses, and sometimes even fish (no, really!) They also shelter humans in their structural material forms.
Bonus. They also give mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, insects and gastropods something to breathe. O2 is our friend, and trees produce a lot of that by processing tons of CO2, which an overabundance of will cause us mammals, fish, and etc., to keel over. How may tons? About 18 billion annually.
Unfortunately, humans are currently putting about twice that amount out in the same amount of time, but we cheat. Trees just do their thing without help. We use all sorts of gadgets and tools and toys and transportation devices to help us.
Trees still outnumber us, though, which is good, because it takes two good-sized trees to produce enough O2 for a single human. Helping out in O2 production are lots of other plants, of course, but trees are way ahead of all other flora in keeping us — well — alive.
We are helping keep them alive, too, ‘cause they need that carbon-di to live as much as we need oxygen. Interesting how that works, eh? We breathe out. They breathe in. And vice-versa; mutual dependency (what an ecological concept!). They also hold onto that carbon for later use, so they are ridding the air of the stuff we don’t need too much of and giving back their “waste,” which, if we are relative active, we need about 145 gallons of every day. Every day. In other words, our forests are living filters helping to keep us standing.
With that in mind, we might take a little more time when we consider cutting down a tree, and especially a whole bunch of trees. It seems fashionable to just hack everything when a housing development gets started. The lawns in front of those new houses are not going to keep us supplied. So, take a deep breath before you chop a tree down. It may not be able to hug you back, but it’s still a good friend.