Last week was spent back home in Massachusetts. I am lucky enough to live right next to a parcel of land that was part of a conservation project started over 130 years ago. One day I went out for a walk down by the Merrimack River that runs alongside this land. I took the same trail that I had taken since my family first moved to the area in ’06. The woods are not unlike my spot in centennial. The forest is similar, and a familiar brook runs its way through. As I walked down the trail, the forest changes. It starts as a predominantly hard wood forest, and then suddenly switched to evergreens. Two tall hemlocks rose up from the trail in between. Soon after is a beech forest. In the fall the trees and floor is full of yellow leaves. As you walk further the forest is once again replaced by a primarily red oak and white pine canopy, which is common in the area.
Two large Hemlocks grew up from the trail. For hundreds of years these trees grew up towards the sun together. The tree on the river-side is growing strong, with green needles casting shade on the forest floor. The other tree has no needles left. For so long these two grew together, but only one is continuing to grow. In the future, only one tree will still stand, as their partner once again returns to the soil.
