Even in death, trees have much to teach us. Here's a tree stump of a tree that was born in or near Ithaca, New York in approximately 1822. It fell in 2010. It can amaze us that this tree lived for almost 200 years.
This stump is on display in a visitors center at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
We have seen tree stumps, and we are aware that the growth rings give us information pertaining to rainfall (how far apart are the rings?).
Let's take a closer look at the rings and the labels of some historical events during the life of this tree. The top label is "c1822", about when the tree was born, and the rings radiate out.
This tree was around for the first radio transmission.
It saw Model T cars on the road (1908)
Perhaps someone who worked on the first electronic TV drove past that tree (1927). Or maybe the first personal computer (1975)
Trees are our link to history.
Joining Parul at Happiness and Food on the second and fourth Thursday of the month for #ThursdayTreeLove.
...these are great history books.
ReplyDeleteI am always in awe at Trees. What they've silently witnessed. We were on Ephesus in the area purported to be the spot where Mary, the mother of Jesus spent her last years. There was a house claimed to be hers, which was nowhere near old enough. But just outside the back door was an ancient, bent and gnarled olive tree. Now THAT looked over 2000 years old. And still living. I wonder what it had witnessed!
ReplyDeleteTo the mountains, the trees are but children.
ReplyDeleteLove this. My aunt made a wallhanging as an 50th anniversary gift for her husband. Fifty year rings... I think that's what it was. It's beautiful that trees paint a portrait of the time for us.
ReplyDeleteWow, it always amazes me how old some trees are
ReplyDeleteAnd to think people cut these down with no thought to their lives, just to make room for more industry or housing projects, not even to use the wood, and they just get hauled away to rot.
ReplyDeleteSuch a scientific excursion reading your post today. It is so cool to find out the age of the tree this way
ReplyDeleteTrees are among the most interesting entities with which we share this planet.
ReplyDeleteThat is impressive. Like you, I wonder what that tree saw.
ReplyDeleteHi Alana - lots of time passes trees by ... one does wonder - but it's always fascinating and seeing so much climate change too - cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteWow! Thats a wonderful way to display old tree stumps. The correlation to historical events makes us learn and appreciate the tree even more!
ReplyDeleteLove the perspective and what a lovely way to share about all that a tree has seen. Thanks so much for joining, Alana! I will see you on the 26th.
ReplyDeleteSo much history that this tree must have seen! I'm completely in awe of the rich experiences that it enjoyed during it's lifetime. Thank you so much, Alana, for sharing this wonderful post.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting perspective! I'm thinking of how each of those years had its own weather, seasons, and rich experiences.
ReplyDeleteI liked you post as i found it interesting, trees witness so many happenings silently. I appreciate this thought of preserving this tree stump, thank you for taking me to this University:)
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