Yesterday was a very moving day. In the morning’s Spokesman-Review I read a letter to the editor about their series on the Big Burn of 1910. James Flynn wrote about spending the summers of 1944-45 “planting thousands of white pine seedlings in a forest of white pine snags, remains of the 1910 fires.” At the end of his reminiscence, he wrote, “I anticipate returning this summer to Camp Nowhere and hugging a few of the trees I planted 65 years ago. Then I’ll climb Camel’s Hump to delight in the vistas of regrowth.” I felt that this man should have his own tree here in Spokane that he and his family can watch grow and that he can hug whenever he feels like. So, I immediately found his number and called him. We had a delightful talk and he is excited at the prospect of a tree planting party in Audubon Park near his home. We’ll be scheduling later this fall.
Later in the day I came across the news on the internet that the tree Anne Frank was able to see out the window of her attic had fallen in a windstorm. Hers was a book that I had read as a teenager and I reread it when my girls were reading it. The article mentioned clones of the tree being planted around the world including some in the U.S. I would love to have one of those chestnuts here in Spokane and I left a message at the Urban Forestry office to see if they could find any information about such trees. I feel that I can find funding if it’s needed in the faith community.
That was my day in trees yesterday and I hope that I can make some of it come to fruition.