McEuen: Ode to a beloved tree
Sometimes my husband calls me a tree hugger. I'm not offended by the label, but I'm not sure it is the one that most accurately describes my "thing" for trees. I mean I am a nature girl and it's true that I drive a Subaru and live in the Northwest so the label might seem to fit but really all I am, I think, is a tree lover.
I seriously LOVE trees. Sometimes I even call myself a tree freak. Obviously, living here in Kootenai County and spending a great deal of time up in Bonner County where my mom grew up on the Pack River, I am surrounded by an abundance of trees. They are so beautiful, I can't help but love them. All this beauty around me makes me feel happy and the trees play their part in that.
As a kid, I loved to lie under trees and read books. I probably still would if I only had the time. These days I find I just constantly notice trees. I have certain trees that are my favorites and I see them pretty much every day on my drive to work along the side streets I take to reach downtown Coeur d'Alene. I know what these trees do during each season - when they begin to put on leaves in the spring, what colors their leaves change to in the fall, and when they begin the change. I watch and wait for it. Especially in the fall, I intently watch their daily change.
Recently I noticed my "favorite" tree downtown. It stands in McEuen Park alongside Lake Coeur d'Alene, right next to the lot where I park my car every day. What I noticed is that it had begun its color change. That's actually why it's my favorite tree in the park - because it is the first to begin the change every year. I can count on it. I noticed that it had a shock of all yellow leaves in one particular area, although most of its leaves were still green. The other trees in the park are still all green. But once this one goes, the others hurry to catch up, it seems. I smiled when I saw the yellow. Fall!
The next day, as I walked out to my car at lunchtime, I looked up to see if any more yellow had appeared since the previous day. I stopped in my tracks. My tree was down, cut up in pieces on the grass, the leaves still clinging to its branches. The park and baseball field where the children of Coeur d'Alene have played for decades has gone the way of "progress," and not without a great deal of local controversy, as is common to every community. Work began last week on this project. I wistfully and sadly observed the workers with their big machines tearing up the baseball field and bleachers. The collateral damage was "my" tree.
Although I actually anticipate that the finished work on McEuen Park may very well be a nice improvement to downtown Coeur d'Alene, change is often hard. We tend to like things the way they are. We remember how they used to be. We cling to our memories of the "good old days." We are all guilty of nostalgia. It's just the way we are. Not surprisingly, this improvement project generated strong opinions on both sides in our quaint lakeside town. Admittedly, I did not choose sides. I remained neutral on the issue but I have to say I'm really going to miss that tree!
Terri Boyd-Davis is a Hayden resident who works in downtown Coeur d'Alene. She also serves as president of Trinity Group Homes in Coeur d'Alene.