Hemmed in

There are several street trees I pass almost daily not far from the Arboretum. They are large trees, oaks and maples. With their roots circumscribed by sidewalks, by concrete that, in some cases, comes right up to their bark, yet they have grown huge over decades.

These trees have lived with this indignity and have adapted, well or poorly, to limitations on their growth. We’ve seen the buckled sidewalks that resulted. The trees have survived this and, often, the trimming of their crowns to accommodate power lines.

Are they thriving? Probably not. But they are alive, doing their best given their home. That counts for a lot.

We must learn to adapt to what’s around us, like it or not. That’s part of being alive. As humans we have somewhat more control, although there are still limits. And now, in a time when those limits seem more concrete, we must figure out how to make the most of what remains – how to move toward the world we want in spite of limitations and obstacles.