New Year Questions

     The first day of the year is a big day of wonder: what will the year bring? What can we do to make good things happen? What will we have no control over? There will be good and bad, and some things we can't even imagine today.
     As we walked through one of our favorite spots in one of the beautiful forests that surround us, we couldn't help but wonder aloud just how much longer it will be there. So many of the areas around it have been clear-cut and this has some stunningly beautiful huge, trees. Each could be worth a fortune. Some of them may be almost too big to fit any of the remaining mills. What a wonderful "shame" that would be.
 

Photo by neighbor and walking buddy, Joan Martelli

     We've watched, heartbroken, as so many forests have been clear-cut in our neighborhood in the last 10 to 15 years. Of course, trees do come back and healthy ones are stretching above the weeds now in most of those cuts. Still, it will take decades for them to have the mix of varied and natural undergrowth, what loggers consider "trash" trees  (madrone, maples, oaks, etc.) and all the wildflowers and berries that magically appear after time and support unseen wildlife. Those forests have given us so many wonderful hikes and lessons in seasons, flora and fauna. News of bear and bobcat sitings ripple through the neighborhood occasionally, as do complaints about people showing up to shoot their guns without permission, or ride motorized vehicles where they're not allowed, especially during dry, hot months when fire-danger is high. Coyote choruses are heard regularly and nothing compares to stepping outside in the still of night to listen to owls visiting from one woods to another. Most everyone who lives out here enjoys walks in the forests (even the clear-cuts when necessary) as much as we do. I joke that it's been the best health insurance we could ever invest in since it's so beautiful and inspiring you want to climb the wooded hills every day. It's no joke, though. It's true.
     May we all have many more new years to enjoy the forests. As we do, I often wonder what the beautiful trees we used to enjoy--but were cut and carried off--ever became: walls? furniture? cabinets? beds?  I hope they're bringing as much comfort and pleasure in their new stations in life as they did when we knew them. Our house is built of wood, as are our furniture, cabinets, fence posts, etc. and we use wood as heat. We also have lots of books and, as a writer, I go through reams of paper. It's good to remind myself that we're living in, surrounded and warmed by what was once part of a forest that brought others joy, lessons and health at one time too.