LEOPOLD LOVES TREES; i don't.

"The only conclusion I have ever reached is that I love all trees, but I am in love with pines" (Leopold, Aldo. A Sand County Almanac. 70.)

I am in an environmental ethics class and I am reading this book about Leopold's views of nature.
I give credit to the man for being so charismatic about a subject. He uses the name of a plant as a proper noun. And the extensive knowledge Leopold has on the history of inhumane treatment of plants is amazing. I don't know how he found the time to research all of the stuff he talks about. It is interesting though.

However, when I came across the above mentioned quote, I realized that Leopold has never seen a palo verde tree. If he had his statement would have been more like "The only conclusion I have ever reached is that I love all trees (with the obvious exception of palo verde trees{which shouldn't even be considered a tree in the first place}), but I am in love with pines."


Isn't this thing just an eye sore? And here they put them everywhere. They must be cheep because whenever they redo a road or put in a new shopping complex, they always litter it with tons of Palos.






I for one love all trees that perform the task that they were made for; shading my car in the 116 degree heat. The Palo Verde tree doesn't accomplish this task, so therefor, is useless to me. It might as well not even be in existence. It is ugly, messy and doesn't provide any circumference of shade big enough to shade anyone or anything.

It might appear that this is giving a little shade to the red car, however, it is just deceiving you. No question about it. I park under one everyday thinking, "I can see the shade on the pavement so it has got to shade my car" WRONG!!!



I was just googling to find out what it even means and I got this as a hit:

How do you slowly kill a Palo Verde tree?

This person wants Palo Verde to suffer. It's like they wanted to higher a hit man to slowly pull Palo Verde's teeth, then poke it with scalding hot pokers, only to finish Palo Verde off with a dose of poison that would make it spill all of it's secrets before finally killing over. Leopold would hate this . . . we would never get along, Leopold and I.

And just to let you all know, Palo's name means green wood. How original!

Stupid thing, doesn't it know that it's trunk is supposed to be brown...?






It's just like how I do not and will not ever feel remorse for killing a cockroach. However, I do deem it inhumane to kill cats {however much I wish we didn't have two living in our house} or stuff pigs into tight cages just to fatten them up. I guess I can have some extremest feelings but I am not a true environmentalist, and never will be.

I might one day claim to be green but I never want to be in the same category as Palo here.

Quote:

"I've got my life in a suite case and I'm ready to run run run away.
I've got no time because I'm always trying to run run run away
cause everyday it feels like it's only a game, I've got my life in a suit case."

Quote:

You {snap of the fingers}, are a lone reed.
You are a lone reed.
You are a lone reed standing tall waving boldly in the corrupt sands of commerce.

I am a lone reed.

Why does love always have to be a fairy tale, can't it just be a tale?

I have never been a big believer in love.

I hope for love. I just don't believe in it. (It's a good thing I don't feel about God the way I do about love).

Don't get me wrong I know that there is love out there, I just believe that love is something sought after, worked for, and a long time coming.

I do believe in the Grinch.











I believe that one's heart can grow. I can like someone, get along with them, realize that we are compatible, and be with them long enough to see that we go well together. Through this process my heart will grow to love someone.

I also believe that as long as there is some sort of attraction between the two of us and we both have the same goals for this life, that someone can be anyone.

Love at first sight is a bunch of crap. There is just no way.

I just saw the movie "500 days of summer" and I loved it.
It was a love tale. Not a fairy tale. It showed how two people could be in what looked like "love", have it not work out, and move on with life only to end up happier than when they thought they were "in love".

Could you leave someone who adored you? Imagine he was the perfect guy. He loved you, remembered the silly little facts you would say in passing, surprised you with those little facts when you least expected, was at your beckoning call, let you do things your way without complaining. . . Through all of this, you know he is amazing but aren't sure if there is someone else you could feel more for.

Could you leave him?
For the hope of someone else?

I am afraid that I would be too inamorated to think clearly. Or to analyze the thought of someone else. He is so perfect. There can't be someone better. Why give him up and then end up alone?

Then, you have to think; if you never analyzed or worried about if this was TRUE love, then you wouldn't be sad to miss out on something else. You will never realize you are missing out.

Hmm, so through my thought process, it seems like if you marry someone thinking you're in love but there is someone else out there who could have made you happier, it wouldn't matter. You would never miss out if you put your whole heart into your relationship. Your heart would grow. Your initial size would possibly be smaller than with Mr. Perfect but the end size only depends on how willing you are to let your heart grow.

Just believe, in other words.