Trees, Going, Going, Gone! |
Why is the environment important? |
| Why is the environment important?
That question relates to my past and your future. When I was young I lived on a street
with only seven (7) houses, in Asheville, North Carolina. These homes were surrounded by a
wooded area. In fact, the forest weaved around the houses, making each house a private
place of enjoyment. I used to walk out the back door and greet birds, possums, raccoons,
deer and even some wild dogs. The forest was about 100 feet from the houses on all sides.
I thought that my children and my children's children would always have access to these
wonders. That they would have the opportunity to see the raccoons and possum silently roam
the woods, viewing their habits and feeling the love they have for their offspring. Watch
the squirrels play, hunt and store their food for winter, maybe even witness a courtship. I can remember sledding in the summer on pine needles, laughing with joy. Having marshmallow roast after snow sledding in the same area. Digging a hole for the fire, making sure the rock would contain the fire. The older kids would tend the fires, while the younger kids would gather up dead wood for the fuel. All of us were taught to respect the forest, only take what was needed. Our Cherokee friends told us that the animals that lived there needed the trees, grass, pine cones, hickory nuts, acorns and even the horse apples. That the animals needed the trees for protection ass well as food and the forest needed the animals for its survival too. Christmas time was always a wondrous time. But we children would prepare a special treat at that time for our friends. We would bring out our acorns, hickory nuts, suet and anything else we found in the forest that animals like. We would then decorate a pine tree with all this, Christmas Eve. My father would place a dim light on the tree and we would watch the animals come to eat and marvel at their quiet and speedy feast from their special tree. I had hoped and dreamed that all the children after me would be able to see these wonders. But no, they are not, for we have trashed the trees, burned them, cut them, killed them with our pollution and our wasteful ways. For we destroy without looking to the future, without thoughts to what will stand in it's place in years to come. The environment we are creating is one of steel and plastic walls to contain the asphalt, gravel and concrete society of the future. We will live in a sterile society and when we want to show our children the forests and animals...we will show them a book, for there will be no forest or animals left. © Sarah Jane Melvin |
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