The Things I Prize ~

These are the things I prize
   And hold of dearest worth:
Light of the sapphire skies,
Peace of the silent hills,
Shelter of the forests, comfort of the grass,
Music of birds, murmur of little rills,
Shadows of clouds that swiftly pass,
   And, after showers,
   The smell of flowers
And of the good brown earth ~
And best of all, along the way, friendship and mirth.

~ Henry Van Dyke (1852 - 1933) American author, educator

Happy Father's Day!

[files lbw]

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY !

[Files lbw]

James Walker ~ Among Trees

When one lives with a bookshop, there is a rule:  do not lay your book down unless you have your name on it ~ and a big bookmark in it.  I have lost the book Looking for Old Ontario, which wouldn't be a big deal except that I posted yesterday that I would quote from it today.

The intended quotation about trees is an important one given that rural areas have adapted a culture of clearing land of trees. It is well-known that Haldimand County resists planting roadside trees and modern farming requires huge fields void of fences and trees.  Haldimand-Norfolk Stewardship Council partnering with other environmentalists is working to combat the trend by developing tree-planting programs ~ one being Memory Gardens.  The Stewardship also encourages and supports land-owners in efforts to create new woodlots.

Tomorrow, if the historical book shows up, we will present the story of municipalities paying farmers to plant hardwood trees along roadsides.


[Great 'shot' James.  Where is this?]
Postscript:  Sunday, June 15 ~ Still looking for Looking for Old Ontario!

ROADSIDE TREES ~

"...a human-made element of rural Ontario.  They give articulation to a landscape where the next highest field feature may be the fence post.  Roadside trees are not the remnants of clearing but were consciously reintroduced...amid the widespread belief that trees 'for shade and oranment' contributed to the virtue of country life.  Poets were aroused by the frightening prospect of a treeless landscape, and Arbor Day plantings became regular spring events at country schools late in the nineteenth century.
"Farmers pointed out that shade and beauty did not increase their income, and we read in Canada Farmer's Sun of the resident who cut down his line of non-productive forest trees.  The journalist urged others, as a compromise, to plant nut trees at the roadside.  Shade benefited church-goers, weary travellers, and sweaty kine on sultry August afternoons.  It did not matter that such trees did not grow ramrod straight for the satisfaction of lumber merchants.  As for the romantics, the play of light and shadow through basswood or hemlock added immeasurably to the maturing landscape."

~ LOOKING FOR OLD ONTARIO, Thomas F. McIlwraith, University of Toronto Press, 1997.

[Tomorrow:  Beginning in 1883 municipalities could pay farmers for planting roadside hardwood trees]

Thoughts and prayers with those mourning a loss today.