A Picture's Worth

I heard on the news this morning that Obama stopped all drone attacks. And that George W. Bush sorrowfully apologized for all the people that were killed in his war on Iraq. And Obama promised to halt U.S. involvement in all present wars. That all the leaders of developed nations, including the U.S., promised to stop using their $$ for wars and weapons but instead to use the $$ to provide food, shelter, healthcare, education and jobs for all their people and that no one would ever be poor or hungry again.

50th anniversary of Chico Peace Vigil, 3rd and Main Sts.

50th Anniversary of Chico Peace Vigil

And Corporate CEO’s woke up to the fact that our Earth is dying and asked all the peoples of this beautiful Planet to forgive them (which we did) and vowed to immediately stop spewing more CO2 into the Earth’s atmosphere and to stop all their other greedy and polluting behaviors and donated all their money to developing alternative and sustainable energy sources.

Grand Canyon, North Rim

Mt. Whitney, Sierra Nevada mountains

And, finally, that all the Earth’s people began to live together in peace and harmony, respecting each others ways and beliefs without trying to foist their ways and beliefs on to anyone else. Wow! Isn’t that great news?!

Alas, sorry to say: APRIL FOOLS!

Yesterday, on the corner of Salem and 8th Sts., I witnessed the removal of an ancient Valley Oak that had occupied and shaded that corner for at least 200 years. Just hours before, it stood straight and tall, its branches reaching into the sky. But soon, one by one, its lateral branches and then its trunk were chain-sawed off until all that was left of it was nothing but a pathetic decapitated stump of its former self.

(click on image to view larger)

Before

After

The tree had been condemned at a public meeting. It was said that it had to come down because it was a danger to people and because it stood in the way of two proposed duplexes. The developers apparently assumed that the oak was incompatible with their construction design – either you get a tree or you get the duplexes, with no alternatives in between. As for the tree’s danger, I’m not a tree expert, but it looked perfectly healthy to me. The cut pieces of its trunk that I saw showed no evidence of disease. I still think that, somehow, the tree could have been included in the architectural plans for the duplexes. But it was more convenient for the developers to get rid of the tree than take the time to accommodate it in their plans. What a shame, what a loss.