The Noble Tree

The noble tree.

What do we get from the tree?

On a hot day, we get shade. That’s a beautiful thing. We might take trees for granted until a hot day, and then the shade is so ultimately necessary. On a hot day the tree gets the appreciation it deserves. Sitting under a tree on a summer day is living beyond the average. There’s little better on this earth.

In a scientific sense, we get oxygen from trees. Many trees absorb carbons and expel simple oxygens. Humans rely on this process for life. There may be some funny folks who will tell you, “Yeah, but plankton puts off more oxygen than a tree.” That’s great, if you live on the ocean, where plankton lives. If you don’t happen to live on the ocean, then you probably rely more on trees for your precious supply of oxygen. The noble tree lives close to us, and we live close to it. We share and trade the things we don’t need.

From trees we get wood. From wood we get a variety of items so broad, we couldn’t list them all in one day. Wood forms the cradle, it shapes the casket. Wood makes the table, the chair, the walls, and the roof. The roof! Ha! There again, we get shade from the tree, though it is definitely better to sit under the tree as it grows on a hot summer day than under a roof. Wood makes yardsticks and cricket bats. Wood forms floors and billiard tables. Wood is used for the tops of Cholula bottles. Wood is used in fences, signposts, mile markers, and bridges. It is used in uncounted ways in construction.

Trees are where birds sing. If we enjoy birdsong, we might owe the tree something.

Trees are where jaguars hide.

Trees give us fruits and nuts in great variety.

And trees give us paper. Without it we wouldn’t have most of the things written, drawn, or charcoal-rubbed on paper. We wouldn’t have paper airplanes. We wouldn’t have something to roll up and swat at flys.

There are many more things.

What else do we get from the noble tree?