Philadelphia and Sycamores

DUKES FANS: The “new normal” with nature is that there is no “normal” anymore” Anonymous “It is always the bottom of the ninth with nature. Nature always has the last at bat” Kevin McC SOME THOUGHTS ON SYCAMORES I live in Mt. Airy between Germantown and Chestnut Hill, and I love all three of those neighborhoods. I spend time in all three, and I love walking them. There is wonderful architecture to see, great gardens, great local businesses, curious little alleyways, and trees, trees, trees. I have been especially aware of the trees these last several weeks in part due to the extreme weather we have had over the last month or two and the frequent changes in temperature, air quality, and humidity. The effect of all of this on the area’s trees can be seen on many of the streets in each of these neighborhoods. This some I became curious about three weeks ago when I noticed the amount of fallen bark from trees that were in the streets of Germantown, Mt Airy, and Chestnut Hill. I am used to seeing some fallen bark in the summer months, but this year it seemed excessive. I got curious and did some web searching about the situation, and that led me to explore some of the history of Sycamore trees in the Philadelphia area The vast majority of the peeled bark I was seeing came from Sycamore trees. Philadelphia, Penn’s “Greene Countrie Towne,” has a lot of trees, of course, and it turns out that Sycamores were favored trees from the colonial era on. Very important for urban living, they are large trees, and they have huge canopies that provide a lot of shade during the hot summer months. That was very important in the days before fans and air conditioning. They also tolerate a lot of pollution and resist some infections to which other trees are prone. They are hardy, and they live for a long time. On 6th Street outside Washington Square, for example, there is a Sycamore that dates back to the early 1800’s. And in Landsdowne, PA, there is a giant one that dates back some 300 years. Hardy and long-lived, indeed. Sycamores shed bark as they grow, similar to the way many animals outgrow their skin as they grow. Shedding peaks during hot summer months, after heavy storms, and during dry spells. This summer has seen plenty of each of these things, so my neighbors have been sweeping up and disposing of more Sycamore bark than I recall them doing before. The trees are not at risk, though. They are just going through “growth spurts.” They are hardy and they will be here long after we are all gone. For a long time I noticed these trees, but I barely gave them a thought. Since learning more about them, though, that has changed. I have wondered about what things some of these trees may have witnessed. The interactions between different cultures; conflicts between groups; the physical growth of the city, and much, much more. If only they could talk about what they have seen. I think that would be fascinating. I think I will go into Center City this weekend and visit the Washington Square Sycamore. It definitely deserves to be noticed and acknowledged for all it has provided. And I think I will soak up some of that Sycamore shade and say, “Thanks.”

The Declaration of Independence

DUKES FANS: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with Certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness….” These, of course, are words from the Declaration of Independence, the document first read to the public in Philadelphia 250 years ago today. We have seen these words plenty of times over the last week and have heard parts of them read in speeches, commercials, news clips and more over the last few weeks. They are marvelous words, and definitely worthy of being repeated and remembered. Of course, they are also words that were not in any way lived up to at the time they were written and publicly announced. On July 4, 1776 approximately 1/ 5 of the population of the 13 colonies-some 500,00 people--were legally held as slaves. They did not have control of their own lives, and they certainly did not have liberty. In fact, over half of the signers of the document were slave holders. There were also about 1.25 million women living in the colonies on that date, and the Declaration does not mention them at all. And the laws of the time limited their rights as well as their ability to pursue their own sense of happiness. Native Americans also were not specifically mentioned, and many of them had lost their lands and their lives during settlement of the colonies. The realities of much of life in the colonies in 1776 for many people was not pretty or easy. What these words are to me, though, are Ideals. Goals. Possibilities. They are how a government could possibly act and be when trying to live up to the meaning of those words. Much of the history of this country has been about actions, movements, people, and organizations trying to make those words a little truer and a little more real. It has not always been pretty, and it has not always been easy. But these things have been essential to our history as many of us have been trying to make these words come true. As we celebrate the writing of those words, then let us also celebrate the struggles, both past and present, to breathe life into those words. Abolitionist Wendell Phillips once said, “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” I would add that it also takes eternal involvement, commitment, and action. Happy Fourth.