The sun came up from the east and a strong gust of wind blew through the valley, bowing through everything in its path, causing the leaves to shift and the seedlings to blow through the wind implanting their selves gently into the earth waiting for life to spur. The winter was behind them, as the spring was moving in. The snow packs down the life into the ground all winter, when the sun comes out and the snow melts away life is once again allowed to flourish in a happy harmony and sprout their true colors.
There I was starting out in my infancy of life. Not to far from my mother, but far enough to grow tall in my own space. After the spring began to come in, my branches began to creep from the ground, and grow up towards the sky every day, knowing that one day, I would be as tall as all the other trees. The months went by, there were those cloudy rainy days, which would eventually turn to sun, drying off the leaves, soaking in the nutrients and waiting for the rain to come again. The cycle went on, and I would add inches on every day. Eventually leaves began to sprout. We stayed rooted to the ground watching the sun rise and set, the earth moved in its rotation and we didn’t want to miss a minute. Mother nature was kind to I for allowing myself to grow and allowing myself for life. Life is a delicate thing, which is taken day by day. Each day is a gift.
The summer went by quick as did autumn, every living thing in the forest was preparing for winter. The animals began to store their food for hibernation, and most of the birds have flown north, a lot of the bugs have already died off, and the trees were bare. The leaves have been shed from the branches and lay upon the ground rotting away in the dirt. I wasn’t very big or strong, and the first winter in a trees life could be your first, and your last. Most trees do not make it out of the winter at a young age. A lot of trees don’t make it out of the winter, even if they have been growing for 40 or 50 years.
The winds grew harsher, and the temperature dropped to below 0 degrees this winter. I watched as many of the trees were ripped from the roots and toppled over the stunning white earth. I hung on to the earth for my life that winter. We battled through feet of snow. Some days I couldn’t even poke my head through the top of it, for I was rather small that year. I watched as it took down some of my brothers and sisters. The valley was pure white, the color of innocence. It was a silent winter, but nobody was going to let it tear us down. Nobody went through the winter without fighting for their lives. The days dragged on to weeks, to months. It went at a painfully slow rate. After a while, we kind of just tend to shut ourselves down and go into a sleep mode. It is a way to distract ourselves from the cold. We don’t get much sunlight, which makes it extremely difficult for us to grow. I slept away most of the winter, dreaming for spring again.
The sun couldn’t avoid us forever. When it had returned, we resumed right were we had left off. The winter was brutal, but making it out alive and knowing now what to expect, I spent the spring time growing myself stronger, preparing for when it should hit again. The nutrients and vitamins had restored the leaves, and the animals came back. Things were going back into place. The skies were clear and blue, on days this clear you could see trees all lined up to the other side of the valley, whispering down the line to pass the time.
Mother Nature is a god in this world. She allows us to flourish, grow, prosper, and breathe. She makes it possible for trees to grow upon this soil, and allows for us to feed off the land. All that Mother Nature wants in return is for us to share a piece of ourselves with her. It’s a cycle of life, we live off of her and she lives off of us, we are all her children, and we are all Mother Nature. The trees live off the sun, and animals live off of us, and other animals live off of other animals. When we die, we recycle back into the earth, continuing the cycle. As long as the earth is rotating the sun, this will always be the cycle. To keep life going we need to be apart of mother nature.
As the years went on the winters go easier, for I was growing taller at an exponential rate. Pretty soon I was almost as tall as many of the other trees. The taller I got, the more of the forest I was able to see. I may not ever get to move from this one spot where I’m rooted down to earth, but every year when I grow I can see more and more. I can see more of the forest, more of the life, more of the creatures of earth. My knowledge was growing; I was able to see things that I have never seen before. I enjoyed the company of the birds whistling a tune upon my higher branches in the morning. I enjoyed the company of the spiders webbing below my lower branches.
All was peaceful in my corner of the woods. The serenity sang through the forest as tranquility set in, until the unbearable happened. Large unnatural loud objects Machinery had swept through my home, taking down many of our members. I remember the horrifying images from that day. I came so close to them, I thought that for sure I was as good as dead. There wasn’t anything I could do but wait till I got chopped. I saw them take down my friends of long years and family. It was one thud after the next, dropping all together. They plowed through taking down as many as 5 to 6 trees at once. I felt one brush through my lower branches, just missing me, but taking down the closest tree to me. I watched in agony, as my mother fell to the ground, taking two other smaller trees down with her. She had fallen to the ground with her roots pulled from the ground lying horizontal at my roots. The genocide of the trees, was the name given to this slaughter. It went on for hours, days, weeks as they tore through my family. I kissed the ground considering myself lucky for I was one of the last in my spot to stand, but almost everyone who stood before me was gone. I could see to the other side of the valley with no problem now. I was the front row of trees with thousands who stand behind me in silence for what we just had seen was a life changing moment. One none of us will ever be able to forget.
The winds blew the melancholy emotions throughout the mountain town of Alfred, allowing it to travel down the line of trees all throughout the valley. Sad emotions stuck with us, for the next few years our peace had been disturbed. We had no choice but to watch as they built up tall structures and digging holes. There was loud trucks coming through on a daily basis and working through the daytime, leaving just as night set in. We were in the fight for our lives. Our territory was invaded and we had none to blame but the humans. There have been stories, none I have ever believed. The humans have been tearing down the forest to build up homes, and stores, buildings, and farms. They were overpopulating our world and taking over much of the land.
The building went on for many years to come after that. It would slow down in the winters. When the year 1836 came around, hoards of people began to flood our area and reside in the structures which have been built. Not the most respectful bunches of people. Many didn’t clean up after themselves and littered their garbage and cans among the ground, allowing the animals to eat their trash. I have seen animals choke to death and die because of this human carelessness. I have seen the humans, destroy things, burn things, and break things just for fun. They intrude on the forest, stomping through the leaves, sitting upon our roots and carving into our barks. The path of the world was changing, and we were no longer in charge.
I was able to observe the humans from a far being towards the front of the bunch. I could see into their rooms at night while they studied, and slept. I have watched them all come and go over the years. I realized they weren’t going to leave, they were here to stay. Some of them weren’t all bad. I have seen plenty of kids go by observe my leaves and admire my beauty complimenting the wealth of my colors and how tall my posture was. I had decided that I should get over myself. Most of the forest hasn’t forgiven the humans for invading our lands. I just didn’t see the point anymore. They weren’t going to be leaving anytime soon, so I may as well just go with it. I didn’t like them, but I didn’t hate them either. It’s not like I can just get up and leave. I eventually just began to ignore them. They were just like the rest of the animals in the forest only they were louder.
The summer was at its end, and the returning class had come. I had lost track of the years, and I am getting rather old. Now I watch as the other trees let go of their seeds and grow up to the sky, while I am starting to wilt out and die. I watched as the new students moved into their dorms and settled in. It was actually a rather warm fall, unusual for Alfred. A freshman girl had sat below my perches admiring the patterns of my trunk. She looked up towards my leaves. She had pulled out a sketchbook and began to draw my figure adding her own personal touches. Looking over to her I felt a warmness inside of me. She looked into my soul capturing my thoughts from my lifetime, by sitting there for just a few hours. Her company welcomed me to the thought that no life is bad life, no matter who or what you are, you are here for a reason. Life is a process of learning, giving, taking, to give again, to reproduce, and die, to live again in another form. The cycle of life will always be there, the wind blows through the valley, the leaves brush through the wind, and all the trees of Alfred begin to prepare for a cold winter.
