The Brochure on A Big Tree – Resilience and Strength Personified
Can you be jealous of a tree? Be honest with me, okay? Can you? I think you can. I am. A little.
Today I’m going to talk more about the big tree in our front yard. I’ve known it my whole life. It was planted by the people who built the house, that my parents subsequently bought in 1957. Why should you care? Well, if you saw it in person, I’m guessing you would take a second look. You might wonder about it. You might even take a photo or be curious about its history. Yeah, it’s that special. I’ve already posted a photo on social media so you can see it for yourself. I actually found a song to go with it called, “Redwood Tree.” Who knew? It’s a true glamour shot!
But first, let’s talk about the meaning of trees. Okay. Keep listening. Hear me out. I found a great quote I’ll share with you in a bit. Throughout history, trees have played an important role in not only society, but our communities and our lives. They offer beauty, shelter from the elements, and protection, and wood for furniture, homes, so many needs. How many times have you used a tree as a landmark in knowing where to turn, or where to walk? It has provided some comfort, hasn’t it, seeing it every day? Or welcome shade from the sun. Trees have a rich history of symbolism and spiritual meaning in cultures across the globe. From religious significance in our world’s religions to roles in the stories and mythologies of the ancient civilizations, the meaning we’ve bestowed on trees over time is significant.
A tree is a solid beautiful thing that is also alive, and because of their size, they show us quiet stability and a solid base of support. They are also like their own little ecosystems, supporting life. People make gifts of trees and use trees to commemorate special events and memorialize passings. There’s something timeless about planting a tree in someone’s memory. It seems that even in the face of mortality, a tree will live on into the future endlessly, and our loved one, or our friend’s loved one lives and memory. Eternal life. It’s different from that bouquet of flowers or a potted plant. It’s a TREE.
Now the tree we have is a coastal redwood. I admit, I’m pretty bad with eyeballing measurements and distances, but from what I can surmise, and after talking to my husband, we think it’s about 100 feet tall, give or take. The spread of the branches cover almost the entire width of our property, side to side. And the trunk? The circumference is about 360 inches around or 30 feet. So, the diameter would be about 9 ½ feet, give or take. Here’s one of the reasons you take geometry in school. To figure out things like this. Or you look it up online like I did. Either way, that’s a pretty sizeable tree trunk.
Ever since I can remember, people were always stopping, whether or not they were walking or driving, and remarking on the tree. And that continues today. Moving back here after my parents both passed away, people will stop and remark on it. I mean, there’s new neighbors all the time, and people visit the canyon. They stand and look up to the top. Some men have treated it like a beautiful woman, saying how lovely it is, even blowing it a kiss, and going on and on like that. I mean, hey, what about me? Can you be jealous of a tree? Be honest with me, okay? Can you? I think you can. I am. A little.
Here’s what I know. The house was built in 1940 according to the records I can find. When I was a kid, I remember the adult children of the man who built the house stopping by. Sure, they wanted to see the house, but honestly, they wanted to visit the tree. Right? The tree! It’s all about the tree. Okay, I’m sorry.
They told the story that the tree started as a seedling on their kitchen table. I recall the words “kitchen table,” although when I think about it now, I think about the size of the tree growing up, I doubt that the tree would’ve made that much progress in 30 years or so. I was born in 1962, and it was always big to me. I also know we don’t have space for a table in our kitchen. Maybe it was a prior kitchen? That would make more sense. It started as a seedling somewhere else.
Now I’ve learned that different kinds of tree have their own meaning and significance in various cultures. Celtic and Norse mythology held meaning for different species of trees in early European history. Redwood trees are symbols of strength, resilience and healing. Aren’t all trees really? Redwood trees can apparently withstand fires that other species cannot, although they do suffer scars. They have a very soft kind of bark that I can’t imagine it would take fire very well. But I don’t want to test that theory. Redwoods have survived for thousands of years. These massive trees are a testament to the vitality and the longevity of nature and the earth. Now, you have to respect that!
As I was growing up, the tree frankly scared me. The length of its branches are pretty long, and when we’d have a windy day or especially a windy night, it would make a big noise. I was always afraid of it falling down. Now, it’s not just because of the noise factor. My parents and I were driving home one night from some event. My dad was ahead of us in his 1972 Datsun truck and my mom and I were following in her ’68 Ford Mustang. It was windy. Crazy windy. We were a few blocks from home, and all of a sudden, a big tree fell right in front of the Mustang. A few seconds later and we would have been toast.
Here was the thing about my mother. She could get upset. BUT if I was upset, or whoever was with her was upset, she would remain calm. Deadly calm. I mean, like annoyingly calm. It almost seemed like she was trying to do it on purpose. You’d say, well, she was trying to show strength. Well, I was UPSET. Hello? A big tree just fell feet in front of our car. It was a Deodar cedar tree. I remember because there’s still another one next to where it was, and because it was in front of my friend Dolly’s house. Dolly’s been my friend since the 2nd grade. And because you don’t forget a thing like this.
Anyway, I started to get hysterical. I was crying and screaming something like “Oh my gosh, the tree almost hit us!” over and over again. My mom backed up the car and turned around. There was no getting through this way. The tree had fallen all the way to the other side of the street, across the curb. So we had to go around the long way. When we got home, my dad looked quizzically at us. First of all, because we had been right behind him, where had we been? And secondly because I was screaming. I remember Mom looking at him and saying something like, “A tree fell in front of us. She’s hysterical.” Then I really got upset. Wasn’t my mom upset too??
Well, now that I’m living back here, I’ll tell you that every time I go by that spot, and the remaining tree, I’m always looking at it, especially if it’s windy. And my friend Dolly still remembers the tree falling, and was concerned that the other one would fall. Big trees, our worst nightmares. Luckily for Dolly, she has recently moved away and can put that tree behind her.
When it rains a lot here, or it’s very windy, there are always stories on the news about big trees falling down. Hitting cars, hitting houses, killing people. I feel like I’m part of a Hemingway novel, for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee.
Our tree is home to numerous squirrels and birds. Maybe the occasional owl? Years ago, again, when I was young, the branches used to reach the ground. We used to find neighborhood kids climbing up the branches sometimes. The branches are placed so that it would be easy, if you were so inclined, to climb up the trunk. Kind of like climbing a ladder. But that’s pretty dangerous. So, we trimmed the lower branches away, making that impossible.
I recognize that the tree is something of a celebrity. Don’t get me wrong, I’m proud to have the tree on our property. But yes, people greatly admire the tree. When we had a yard sale last year, I turned around and a woman was trying to hug it. Of course, she couldn’t begin to reach around it even with her arms outstretched. Numerous other people complimented the tree that day. And our regular neighborhood folks - the Amazon, the Fed Ex guy – everybody talks about it all the time. A random delivery guy said something about it the other day. I think he kissed the air. Maybe it needs its own Instagram account?
My dad used to say that there was an underground stream that fed it with water. Now there are a lot of things that I look back on and I wished I had asked my dad more about, but in retrospect, I wish I would have asked him the details on that definitely before he passed. How would he even KNOW that? And would it be like a hollowed out waterway with water coming through it? And is it still there, even with the drought? Speaking of the drought, that really has concerned me. Now we have two cats and a dog, and I have to feed and care for them. I also leave out birdseed and nuts for the squirrels, mostly so the cats have something to watch. But the tree needs to be nourished as well. I don’t want it to get too wet or too dry, and it needs fertilizing. Well, I figured out how to fertilize it, but watering it through a drought is another matter. I will save water from the kitchen or the shower, and take it outside. But I admit, I have sneaked outside in the wee hours of the night to water it. A rogue watering incident. Now, don’t turn me in. As it is, the city’s computer system is fully aware I turned on the hose for too long. But I need to keep it healthy. You can’t just put a gallon of water on a tree this size and think it’s going to do the trick. It needs deep watering. Luckily we had a lot of rain last month. A lot for us, that is. Sometimes during a light rain, the soil doesn’t even get wet under the tree.
Before she passed away, my mom hired a company to come out and fertilize the tree but also to thin it out. We had a couple of branches that had fallen off and got stuck, one of which was in the cables running from the telephone pole to the house. Yikes. I was afraid it was going to hit somebody on the head. I have a photo of a guy way up near the top. I’ll also post that on my social media. I hope he had a safety harness on, but not sure what he would’ve attached it to? Hard to attach to the trunk. Not a job for someone afraid of heights, for sure. Thinning it has hopefully made it healthier. And I AM watering it.
And then there’s the sewer incident. I spoke briefly about this in a prior episode as well. We had been living here a few months when late one Friday afternoon – and why is it always Friday? – I noticed the valve in the driveway was overflowing. Our driveway has a center divider of sorts that is all dirt. This is where the valve is located and water – smelly water – was coming out of the valve. I called the plumber who came over, and tried to clear it with his long metal snake thingy. But then it got stuck. I mean really stuck. Stuck good. It was going to have to wait until Monday. In the meantime, as he was walking away, he said, don’t do any dishes, don’t do any laundry or don’t take a shower. And minimal flushing, please. Oh dear.
Well the next week we had three full days of digging with a two man team. This was after they broke the concrete driveway up at the apron, and subsequently part of the driveway itself. They dug so much it looked like a prison escape tunnel under there. They finally found the source of the blockage. A really big root ball, from, you guessed it, our celebrity of a tree. Yeah, you know, I felt so let down. I felt even further let down once I saw the bill. $18,000. But at that point, I would’ve paid anything to be able to clean myself up, and wash a dish or two, let alone flush on a regular basis. It took a full week to get us up and running again. So, the first couple of months after this when people would stop me and compliment the tree? I’m sure they wondered why I looked somewhat ambivalent.
At the beginning, I promised you a quote. I found a great line when I was looking into the meaning and the symbolism of trees for this episode, and I think it sums things up for today. “Be like a tree. Stay grounded, keep growing and know when to let go.” Sound advice for anyone. Tune in next week for another episode. I hope you’ll join me.
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