Saturday, April 15, 2006

Machine vs The Lady


Several weeks ago I wrote about my building management tearing down our playground and putting up a parking lot in its place. It's hard to believe that the empty ugly lot that is there now once held a cornucopia of greenery. Our playground was lined with over 20 trees and a huge variety of flowers. It was like a painting come to life during the spring and fall with the explosion of colors surrounding us.

On the day the bull dozer arrived our trees were blossoming. The ones outside of my kitchen window were covered in white blossoms with hints of green here and there. When the bulldozer arrived it went straight to work tearing down the handball court and the concrete dividers that had once anchored the fence around the basketball court. Once it was done with that I thought the bulldozer was going to leave. Instead it headed towards my favorite tree. The bulldozer bumped against the young tree and after a couple of nudges "my" apple tree went down.

No one could believe what was happening,the building staff ran out to see what was being done and shook their heads in disbelief. Just like that the tree under which I had spent so many seasons discovering the beauty of Shakespeare was gone. I'd never get to pick another one of her apples or inhale her sweet fragance after a summer rain storm. Birds flew all around the playground confused, they protested the violence being done to our trees their homes. Their cries were so loud and excited it caused people to look up into the sky. Those birds sounded pissed.

The bulldozer then backed up and headed towards another tree and in less than a minute she too was gone, splayed open, her blossoms and branches laying on each side of the spot that had once been her home. It seemed so brutal, so wrong. The bulldozer made its way around the playground methodically destroying the younger trees first, saving the older ones for last. Each time the bulldozer approached a tree I braced myself for the sickening sound that came afterward. All morning long the sound of trees being ripped out of the ground echoed throughout the park. Every spring I've always imagined the trees waking up slowly from their winter slumber looking forward to the spring and summer of all the things to come. However on the morning that the bulldozers arrived the trees were awakened violently from their peaceful sleep, jolted by a bulldozer.

Finally the great tree massacre was almost finished. There remained only one tree, the queen of the trees in the playground. We call her The Lady. It’s rumored that she is about 100 years old; she is the same height as my 7 story. The medium sized bulldozer came up to her and head butted her as he had done to all of the younger trees. She was not moving, how dare he touch her. He came around the other side and head butted her again still she stood her ground. The Lady refused to budge, however several of her branches did manage to break off after getting caught in the basket of the bulldozer but the damage was minor. All in all the evil bulldozer head butted her around 8 times from different angles. It was obvious she was not going down without a fight.

The neighbors emerged from their houses upset at the treatment The Lady was getting, even the staff felt it was wrong to uproot The lady. Once again the bulldozer rammed into her, the people who had gathered voiced their displeasure. Watching the bulldozer circle her one final time and seeing the peoples displeasure I understood why the landlord had waited until after 9 am to start tearing up the trees.He wanted no one around to witness the despicable deed he was committing.

The bulldozer was not working, they were calling in for more supplies to bring The Lady down. They decided to send for a chainsaw. By the time the chainsaw arrived the tenants had started filtering in from work. Everyone was outraged at the destruction of the trees. The crew was forced to work around her while the tenants negotiated with the landlord for her life. My father as the head of the tenant's association spoke to the landlord, business man to business man, pointing out the amount of money it would take to remove The Lady from her spot.

A bulldozer was not going to solve his problem. She had to be cut and this would take several days. It could not be done in one day. He needed a cherry picker... her massive branches had to be cut first after all you don’t want to risk damaging the houses next door. Measure the branches they do extend that way. You’re also going to need chainsaws… we have a chainsaw the landlord pointed out…. look how thick her trunk is look how wide she is. You’re going to need a bigger chainsaw this is not a 2x4 and you're going to need two of them… You’re going to need extra men…a truck to cart her away… Not to mention her roots exactly how deep and wide did the landlord think they were? My father pointed out how much of the lot he would have to tear up just to get to her roots. Wouldn’t this cost you more money and time? Didn’t this lot have to be done by the 17th?

After an hour of negotiation it was decided to spare The Lady. The bulldozer was sent back home, her life had been spared. I can’t help but feel that even though machine won the war in our playground The Lady won the battle in the end.

Labels: nature

Posted by @ 12:52 PM
3 comment from:  christina/ohio,  DannieS72,  Mia,