No More Roots

 

10/7/24 Loyal Heights neighborhood

When a friend and I had taken a walk through the Loyal Heights neighborhood a couple of years ago, we (almost literally) stumbled upon a block of amazing trees. They had such enormous exposed roots that some had broken the sidewalk and pushed the concrete up several inches. (I later learned that they are a variety of flowering cherries.)

Thoroughly impressed, I came back later to sketch one. I didn’t show the damaged sidewalk well, so I hoped to come back on a warmer day and make another attempt. How? Maybe lie on the ground and get an ant’s-eye-view perspective of the crack?

I never got the chance. The same friend texted me last week that one of the trees had a sign posted for removal, likely due to the sidewalk damage. I went as soon as I could a few days later, but I was too late. The offending tree had already been removed, and foundation had been laid for the new sidewalk. Only a mound of dirt remained where that tree once grew.

Shown below is the sketch from winter nearly two years ago when the cherry was bare. I had also intended to go back in spring when it would be blossoming, but I never got around to that, either. Her sisters are still standing, though (with slimmer roots, they didn’t do as much damage, so they have apparently been allowed to stay). I have made an emphatic note to go back next spring. The lesson learned is one I’ve had to learn many times: Just like humans, trees we walk past every day may not be there tomorrow.

1/10/23 Good-bye, old cherry . . . I admire your strength and perseverance - enough to break concrete.