There’s a tree in our front yard, right outside our living room window, that has been a significant presence in our lives since we bought our house 16 years ago. I should know what kind of tree it is - but I don’t. It’s about 30 - 40 feet tall. It’s got broad, small deciduous leaves. It’s been through one very brutal hurricane (since we’ve lived in the house) and only seemed to shake a few leaves while several other, much larger trees in our neighborhood toppled over.

I have tried to come to terms with industrialization as well as the urban and suburban sprawl it produces. I do this by thinking of the ever encroaching human development as nature in a different form. And it really is, I suppose. In a sense, everything our species creates is a garden of sorts. But instead of growing tomatoes and lettuce, some gardens produce chemical plants, skyscrapers, and Starbucks.