The suitcase is out and I’m getting excited about flying off to Chattanooga to Alliance for Biking & Walking’s retreat and the Pro-Walk Pro-Bike Conference. Since Susie’s death I have attended and I get a taste of her life and her influence and the love the people in this field have for her.I come away feeling energized to more to keep her memory alive.
We’ll be planting a tree on Monday the 13th in a park by the Tennessee River as a thank you to the people of Chattanooga. I want to plant a tree in each of the cities where I have attended. This will be the third. There are also trees in Seattle and Victoria BC. I have to get trees into St Paul and Madison. I’m hoping the conference will decide that this is a wonderful thing to leave behind and that it will become a tradition.
I have piles in my livingroom to stuff in the suitcase for a project that I hope will increase the size of the Susie Forest across North America. I won’t say more about it because I don’t want any of my targets to read about it before I spring it on them. I’ll report on it when I return.
Another Trip, Another Tree
What moves me
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.
A Brazilian Susie Tree!
When I heard that a couple from my apartment house were planning a trip to visit Roque’s family in Brazil, I couldn’t help myself I had to ask if they would try to plant a Susie tree there. As my children know I even go up to strangers and ask this. They were willing and so I waited. I just received a note from John and Roque and this is what it said: Roque’s family has a beach house at Arauama, which is a two-hour drive from northeast of Rio de Janeiro. The house is situated in a large quintal (wall-enclosed garden). We planted a Brazilian Ipe tree in the quintal to honor your daughter Susie Stephens. The Ipe tree is also known as the Trumpet Tree because of its purple tube-shaped flowers. It is a member of the Bignoniaceae family and thrives in Brazil. Roque’s family was particularly moved by your daughter Susie’s story and your dedication to planting trees in The Susie Forest around the world in her memory.
Wow!
There are Susie trees in Peru through a Heifer International tree planting program that I donated to, but this is the first individual Susie tree in South America. I am so excited and so thankful. Thank you Roque and John.
A Tree in Glencoe
There I stood looking out over Lake Michigan and down to the beach where I went swimming more than fifty years ago. It was hot and humid and it brought back so many memories. In front of me stood a group of bicycling arborists on orange shirts listening as I told them about Susie and her Forest. They applauded when I told them that I donate to Heifer International’s tree planting programs to move The Susie Forest across the world. They gave me an alternate name for the peppernut cookies that people have thought were kibbles – tree kibbles. Perfect! They wrote their tree-grams, thanked me for the presentation, hopped on their bikes and headed for the Botanic Garden for lunch. I waited a bit and spoke with representatives from the Glencoe Historical Society. I gave to them some copies of Harper’s Young People 1884-85 that I had found in the barn of our home two blocks from this park in 1944. Then I spoke with a woman from the Glencoe Public Library about Read for Trees and gave her two books donated by Davey Trees. Then I got to go to the Botanic Garden for lunch under the trees. The Glencoe tree, dedicated to my parents, was the fifth tree I got to add to The Susie Forest on July 18, 2010. What a great day! Do I have to travel to the sites of Susie tree plantings? No, but when I can it gives me the greatest high.
A trip to Chicago
On July 18 there will be 65 arborists on bicycles planting a Susie tree in Glencoe, IL my home town. Earlier in the day I will be volunteering at tree plantings in Millenium Park in Chicago and at the Ecology Center in Evanston, Il. Because I’m helping with those trees they will also be in The Susie Forest. I’ll be posting pictures when I get back. Exciting tree plantings even in the summer!
Coming Soon!
Welcome to The Susie Forest blog and website. We will be up and running soon and look forward to sharing stories and adventures!
The Susie Forest 