firecat: 3 totoros. the largest one has an umbrella (totoros in garden)
firecat (attention machine in need of calibration) ([personal profile] firecat) wrote2002-09-30 01:20 pm

Progress

There has been a vacant lot next door to my house for five years. It was vacant, our real estate agent said, because the beautiful Heritage Oak on the property was protected by city law, and it would have been difficult to build a house around the oak.

Lot went up for sale a few months ago. Wanted to buy it, but it was way out of my price range -- they were asking more than I paid for my whole house, even though the lot was empty with no sewer or gas lines installed.

I asked the city whether the oak was still protected by law, and they said that it was, but it could be cut down if the owners petitioned that they could not make "economic use" of the lot while the oak remained in place.

This morning at 6:00 am they began cutting down the oak. The truck they're using says "Tree Care" on it. This is care? I keep hearing saws buzzing and great huge THUMPs. I'm so sad. I never even bothered to take a photograph of it. When will I learn that everything goes away?

[identity profile] daltong.livejournal.com 2002-09-30 02:00 pm (UTC)(link)
:(

I'm really sorry to hear that. "Tree Care" indeed.

I live in a condo complex where the landscaping company regularly decides that certain trees need to come down. As far as I know, this is never put to a vote; our board just implicitly trusts this company. So every couple of months, we lose more trees.

I'm not a tree expert. Maybe these trees really are dying. All I know is that our complex, which is really quite green and lovely, becomes more barren each month.

It was really hard for me a couple of years ago when they cut down a lot of the trees on the hillside across from our condo. I was in bed 23 hours out of 24 at that point and the view of the hillside from my bed was the only outside world I really had.

It gives me a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach to hear about the loss of your tree. It's nothing like losing a person, but still....it feels as though something very special that I don't really understand gets killed.

[identity profile] ex-kateo671.livejournal.com 2002-09-30 02:06 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm really sorry. That's very sad.

[identity profile] mac-arthur-park.livejournal.com 2002-09-30 02:23 pm (UTC)(link)
:::wince::: Tree Care, indeed.

[identity profile] dawnd.livejournal.com 2002-09-30 02:26 pm (UTC)(link)
My LJ is configured such that the header "Progress" is in green. I must say, after reading your entry, I wanted to be able to change it to red. It is very sad that they were able to cut down that old tree.

[identity profile] treacle-well.livejournal.com 2002-09-30 03:14 pm (UTC)(link)
:-(

[identity profile] nex0s.livejournal.com 2002-09-30 05:27 pm (UTC)(link)
I asked the city whether the oak was still protected by law, and they said that it was, but it could be cut down if the owners petitioned that they could not make "economic use" of the lot while the oak remained in place.

and to think, all the new owner had to do was hold a competition at my school for the architecture students to design a house that incorporated the oak tree.

when will people learn to be creative?

[identity profile] elisem.livejournal.com 2002-09-30 07:43 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm very sorry. Poor tree, and poor everybody around the tree.

Your icon for this post resonates with the subject. I think when a tree is cut, there is Totoro sadness. And Ent sadness, too.

[identity profile] elisem.livejournal.com 2002-10-01 12:38 am (UTC)(link)
Ahhh.


Yes. (And thank you for saying it, as it helps this one to hear it said.)

Tree

[identity profile] knkdyke.livejournal.com 2002-09-30 09:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Maybe you could get a peice of the tree and give it a proper ritual of some sort. Or save it. It might be a valuable object one day, when all of the beautiful old trees are gone. :(

[identity profile] elynne.livejournal.com 2002-09-30 10:18 pm (UTC)(link)
... I'm sorry. I know how you feel. I cry whenever I see an old sturdy tree being dismembered. I know, "progress" and "building" and stuff, but nothing makes up for seeing a living thing being torn apart, uprooted, and utterly destroyed because it's inconvenient.

...

[identity profile] kyubi.livejournal.com 2002-09-30 10:50 pm (UTC)(link)
*wince*

[identity profile] moominmuppet.livejournal.com 2002-10-01 01:40 pm (UTC)(link)
Damn. I'm really sorry...
lcohen: (southpark)

[personal profile] lcohen 2002-10-01 02:09 pm (UTC)(link)
oh ouch. this makes my heart hurt. i live in dutch elm disease country--every year more beautiful mature trees have to be cut down--we were just talking about this day before yesterday--the difference it has made. i'm so sorry.