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Growing Roots
Due to logging and fire suppression, Blackjack pines grow too close together. Crowding forces them to use all available resources to grow tall as fast as possible. Competing for light and water every step of the way they don’t have the time or space to grow deep root structures or large stable trunks, for they must get high fast. Their branches are short and stubby, appearing only at the top. Thick ones near the ground would only slow down the race. Long and thin with shallow root structures is the nature of this kind of tree. Weak at their core they have by necessity avoided growing deep in depth and width. Their skin is thin, for growing bark is not efficient in the race for light. Shallow rooted, thin skinned and prematurely tall they survive, but they do so paying the cost of high susceptibility to wind, fire, pests and drought. Had they developed a root structure deep below the surface, had they the time for toughening their bark, had their core been allowed to grow width not just height, had conditions from a very young age encouraged energy spent on balance things might be quite different today in our pine forests. Artists and carpenters in our area look for wood with “character”. Character in wood comes when trees have conquered challenge in their life, like being hit by lightening, growing roots in a rock crevice, or bent sideways by heavy snowfall. Character is achieved when trees grow into maturity with enough time, water and space for branches big and close to the ground, roots and core thick to withstand serious winds, bark tough and vital to fight beetles and pests. Character comes through slow, steady, even development of all aspects – bark, branches, root and trunk. Yet there is little character to be found in our forests today. Crowded trees grow straight and fast and the same. Decreasing diversity and increasing sameness has left our trees all about the same age. With few remaining elders and healthy youngsters, our forests have become more like farms with most of the “wild” removed. These trees are in an unnatural race. Yet they face the same problem as many of us: How to grow whole in an environment obsessed with speed, consumption and instant solutions. Interestingly, many of our children exhibit characteristics similar to our pine forests – hurried, unbalanced, and trying to get somewhere too fast. These behaviors are so prevalent new medical terminology has developed describing the various symptoms - Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) - and plenty more. Of course along with these labels has come a vast and predictable array of drugs to “fight” the affliction. With our society’s constant emphasis on quantity over quality, action over contemplation, and personal benefit over collective good is it any wonder our children’s nervous system is now dialed for rush? It is indeed and interesting reflection that with everything built for speed our world now produces offspring unable to sit still without drugs, focus on the effect of their actions, and grow with an eye on balance. Like trees in the forest our children have little time for balanced development before they are rushed into an already over- stimulated marketplace. With coffee the drug of choice for adults, and keeping up the main focus, is it any wonder that methamphetamine - the super-speed - is the scary new drug epidemic amongst our youth. Kids these days are lost trying to get tall before they have the bark, breadth and roots to support their structure. Encouraged every step of the way with quick fix solutions these children reflect a disturbing quality of our society: they have the look, but not the depth; the power, but not the wisdom; the bravado, but not the balance. And in turn they are likely to grow children much the same. Rooted presence comes when one has taken the time to reflect, not just act.
With people, or a forest, or a society, it is the same: wisdom is not to be had in a rush. The drug supply is endless for those wishing to avoid the pain of growing character and conscience. Character comes through attention to foundation, basics and evenness of development, having the time and intent to stand in with adversity, going through and not around challenges. Conscience forms in deep listening with a keen interest toward rings of growth that build bark, breadth and root enough to weather the challenges of life. Wholeness is something earned through caring for the basics, not pandering for the light. |
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In western United States today most Ponderosa Pine forests display a familiar, yet alarming, characteristic: immaturity. Referred to as “Blackjack” by local woodsmen, these trees stand noticeably apart from mature Ponderosa due to their relatively small stature and black bark that never ripens into the golden brown of their more mature cousins.
Bent on progress, our society drives children to be developed before they are strong enough to not fall in the first light storm. Like tall sexy saplings urged to be heard before they have anything to say, they stretch for the light without footing. Thin-skinned and shallow rooted these children are an unwelcome reminder our society has grown beyond its means. The depth is not there and we are ripe for a fire.