Fall of the Giants.

The year that I was born my parents planted two cottonwood trees in our backyard. They grew as I grew and they played a major roles in all our lives. I was a quiet kid who didn't have many friends because I was a sensitive boy and loved books. So, I grew to prefer playing alone. I would often put a book or two into a canvas bag with draw-strings to cinch it up and hang it around my shoulders before climbing high into one of the giant cottonwoods to read. There was a perfect spot where big and densely packed branches made a natural recliner to read in. I would spend hours upon hours reading high in my natural wizards tower reading about dragons, knights and magic users.

After reading a bit, I would often gaze up and out into the cobalt, summer, blue skies to be entranced with the white puffy clouds as they morphed into new shapes every few seconds while passing by. Also from my perch I could spy upon other kids playing in the park across the street and see everything that went on around our end of the neighborhood. Sometimes I'd just sit back and enjoy the breeze that would often blow through, making the tree gently sway. I had such a secure spot I even took little napes up there!! Some of my fondest memories are from reading up in those trees as well as hanging off their branches to swing around like a monkey.

Well, I'm 34 now and those trees are rotting from the inside out. They're sick and it pained my heart deeply to hear my parents say that the city told them to cut them down because they were becoming a danger to nearby houses. I dreaded the day and my parents did too. Well, that day came yesterday when I got a tearful call from my mother who needed sympathy as the tree cutters were tearing into the flesh of our trees with their weapons of destruction -- chainsaws. My mother hardly ever breaks down emotionally and so being a bit of a "Momma's boy" I crashed out the front door with my camera in hand to make the 15 minute drive to their house. When I arrived I saw trucks lining the sidewalk in front of their house with branches scattered about the front yard like bones about to be ground up in the wood chipper situated on our front lawn.

It sounded like a monster as it ate up the bones of our trees, roaring like a ravenous, half-crazed beast. Chain saws echoed like a swarm of angry wasps descending upon my childhood home and beloved trees. I bounded into the house and found my mother in a heap on the couch, sobbing like a child. She has always have a very sensitive heart, which I inherited. She taught me to respect all living things, which obviously included trees and plant life. My father did the same and being a bird enthusiast he taught me about all the different birds that would flock to the safety of the trees and the food we left out hanging from their massive limbs. My Dad mourned the birds that would no longer come to visit -- at least not in the numbers they use to. My Mom and I saw the tree trimmer workers as violators to our yard who were murdering our great trees while we stood by helpless. We knew they had to come down but it was like losing two family members. I can't tell you how many picnics we enjoyed in the shade of the big arms those trees provided.

As the chainsaws chewed up our green friends there were great clouds of falling saw dust, which I interpreted as being tears from the trees. As the big chunks of branches fell from the sky they hit the Earth with a bone shattering thud that shook the house and our hearts. It was heart wrenching to watch our friends be methodically dismembered. We cried and held each other as the workers bragged at how quickly they were taking the trees down. I thought how cruel it is that these trees would fall in a matter of two days when it took them 30 years to grow to their towering heights. It didn't seem right yet I was reminded of how impermanent life is on this planet and we reminded each other that this tree will live on in wood pulp that will enable other greenery and trees to grow.

Finally, I couldn't take all the noise and crashing of tree parts so I dragged my parents out of the house to get a break from the commotion and the scene of the crime. We went to lunch and that defininately helped us regroup and find some solace and insight into remembering that this was all the circle of life. We thought, perhaps the trees were tired and being sick that they wanted to be released from their rotting bodies. It helps us let them go. My Mom even gave them hugs the night before their demise and I patted their trunks softly. One day they will plant new trees but it will never be the same and they will never again grow another cottonwood in honor of our two fallen sentinels. Rest in peace friends.