growth takes time 184/366

When I went out to walk Wednesday morning I couldn't believe my eyes. I'd heard them working since early morning but hadn't looked until I got to the end of my driveway. Asplundh, under the direction of the power company was working on the line of at least seven trees that run along the far side of the little park across the street. So many limbs had been trimmed from the trees they'd finished that they looked naked.

they are just starting on this one

"It would be better if they just took them down rather than stripping them like that" was my thought. All day the men worked and by evening what had been large, old, majestic shade trees looked forlorn. I talked to the Karen about it when I went out to the farm last night. She told me they'd done that to a tree near her and assured me they would come back, eventually. I left her house hopeful.

When I got home I was shocked.
And I admitted I was wrong.
It would not be better if they took them down.
What makes me most sad? 
You can't replace old trees. 

I heard they are going to plant Dogwoods which are beautiful when they bloom. But they are slow growing and don't provide much shade. The street and the park look so strange tonight. From my house, at the end of the block across the street, I can see what remains of the last and what was probably the largest of the sentinels. The contrast is sharp and painful and yet beautiful because of this lesson:

It takes a lot longer to grow a mature tree than it does to cut one down. The same is true with relationships. You can't grow "old friends" overnight and there is no replacing the beauty and benefits of a mature friendship.