Saving the Trees

It is rare to find a spot of well-tended woodlands in the Delta. Most wooded areas are too low and wet to farm, are owned by estates whose members who can’t agree about the use of the land, or exist for hunting ducks.

So when we found ourselves talking to a real estate person about selling a tract of land that we felt we no longer needed, we faced a decision. The stand of oak pictured below is part of a larger tract farmed by my late father-in-law. Not only did he, for reasons of his own, decide to leave this section forested, he chose to tend it and keep it free of undergrowth. He did this for years.

I don’t why for sure. Maybe he thought it would involve too much expense to clear it.  Maybe he thought it made a good windbreak for the rest of the property. Maybe he thought it was too low for row crops.

Knowing him as I did, I suspect he nurtured it because it because he liked to look at it.

It would make sense to sell the timber now since prices for oak are high. It is easily accessible and the trees were groomed over the years, making them ideal for harvesting. We could clear a good bit of money.

But no, money can be wasted. Memories can’t. It doesn’t use up a tree to look at it and enjoy it. We will just leave the land as it is—maybe keep it clean as a token of respect. I’ll post another photograph in a few weeks when the oaks proudly display their green beauty and bless the Delta with their peace and quietude.

The world needs a good bit more of both, don’t you agree?