(Originally published in February)
Down the road from our house, at the tip of Long Lake, lies a small forest. Beyond it, a mall. Beyond that mall, another mall. And so on.
I’ve often enjoyed strolling in the forest. I’ve admired the few old growth trees that remain, the colonies of sword fern, the arbutus grove perched on the rocky point. I’ve tsk-tsk’d the remains of bush parties: broken bottles and, for some myserious reason, bits of carpet remnants. In my day we used wooden pallets. But those were simpler times.
That piece of forest is one of my favourite things about this neighborhood and this community, which is increasingly under seige to developers. The following is a photo essay (I only called it a requiem to be pretentious) of my walk this morning.
Entrance to the small patch of forest. Please note the lovely dappled light.
Walking this path is like strolling in heaven!
Prettiness: thy name is this grove!
Sigh. Not only is a forest a huge environmental boon (clean air, prevention of erosion, wildlife habitat, to name just a few), it also brings out the white and brown in a dog’s coat.
Who has decorated this baby arbutus? I’m not at all sure I approve of that colour on him.
Is it just me, or is this a particularly ominous shade of pink?
H? As in “H” for homicide?
These grand old twins, let’s call them “the Grandfellows” wouldn’t look out of place in Cathedral Grove.
Please tell me this is a number that marks this magnificent old man (let’s call him “Magniman”) as untouchable? As the 4600th wonder of the world?
Ditto for Splendid Sam. (If you’d like a sense of Splendid Sam’s scale, if I wrapped my arms around him, which, as a devoted tree hugger I’m tempted to do, I couldn’t even get them half way around.)
Oh shit.
Stay tuned for more information on the “development” of what I will now be referring to as the Long Lake Tree Abattoir and the impending fates of the Grand Fellows, Magniman, Splendid Sam and the rest. I feel a Micheal Moore moment coming on. Where are my baseball cap and video camera?
P.S. Any tree huggers looking for work? I will provide sandwiches.