Study this picture, what do you see? Imagine that something is happening in this sliver of Yonkers woodland. But what? Nature has a story to tell. What’s your interpretation?
Perhaps a Delightful Daydream:
A happy tree family bundled up in fuzzy green overcoats on an autumn outing. A mom in front; the dad slightly behind her. They are flanked by a young son and slightly older daughter both dawdling a few steps behind. Joyfully, they dance their way out from an enchanted, sun-drenched yellow wonderland.
Or a Dreadful Nightmare:
A small group of Scotch pines next to the highway weakened from a slow-motion attack of invasive English Ivy that is consuming them. Like cement overcoats, these vines weigh hundreds of pounds – it’s only a matter of time before the pines collapse under the weight. The yellow is the late-changing leaves of a smothering stand of aggressive young Norway maples: a fast growing invasive, that walls off the understory, and then races to the sky, outcompeting the pines and every native plant in their path. The maples are pushing the pines down the hill and into the road below. The pines throw up their arms and scream for help, but nobody hears them.
* * * *
There is a false impression of ecological harmony and the beauty of nature, but once you really see it for what it is, you can’t unsee it – and you shouldn’t.
This story is the sixth in a bimonthly series about trees in Yonkers. If any reader knows of a particular tree that they feel is worthy of an exposé, please contact me through the Yonkers Ledger at [email protected]
