Axel
Christian Boilesen
Axel's Grove
By Axel Boilesen, 1983
It all started in April of 1976
with a letter to John Prasch, Superintendent of Lincoln Public
Schools, requesting approval of a plan to plant 200 three-year
old Austrian Pine seedlings.
This was a Cub Scout project with
Betty Boilesen and Sandra Dingman as den mothers. Included in
the group of cub scouts were Jim Boilesen, Tom Dingman, John
Katz, Mike Forsberg, Mick Black and Venu Chivukula.
The trees had already been ordered
when approval was received from the Board of Education. The
plan as carried out consisted of planting two rows with a spacing
of trees two meters each way along the east edge of the Eastridge
School playground. The set back was 4 meters from the east property
line power poles.
The summer of 1976 was hot and
dry. We purchased several used hoes and the school furnished
a key to their outside faucet. Jim and I attempted to water
as far as the hoses would reach with moderate success. The heavy
clay surface had inch wide cracks. Wood chips were dumped in
piles and we hauled and spread them around the trees to conserve
moisture and reduce the weed growth.
On two succeeding years we ordered
more trees for replantings and since about 1981 they have not
required any watering or weeding.
The school maintenance crews have
been helpful in their mowing and there have never been any instances
of vandalism (except for two small fires).
Children would come over when
I was working with the trees and ask what I was doing. I would
explain that some day there would be a nice grove of large pines
and how we could all enjoy their beauty. The reply was usually
"that will be nice."
I often thought, during the process
of starting those trees, of the similarity to the growth of
those children.
The soil and water can be compared
to the homelife conditions. The hard lumps of clay had the nutrients
but these nutrients were not always released and made readily
available to the plants. Likewise, it is evident that there
is a wide variability of diets, warmth, and loving attention
made available to feed the body, mind and spirit. Each individual
has its own environmental conditions.
The plants themselves also have
their distinctive characteristics. The shapes, form and colors
of each are so similar but still so different. Some have suffered
damage, even disfigurement, but as years go by have their own
special beauty. Growth patterns are also highly variable, with
some it is a slow start, and may experience dramatic changes
in the space of a few yeras. All are not created equal but unbelieveable
personalities often come from even the more serious handicaps.
The final picture also contains
many similarities between the trees and our growth. Some are
lost or destroyed by natural hazards - the waters of life just
did not reach them in time, the physical defects were too great,
the disease could not be controlled, or the warlike forces took
its tool before full maturity. What is left is a grove or mass
constantly changing but yet having a stability and beauty. The
composite is what we judge but we are all fully aware of the
fact that each plant (person) has a significant role or impact
on the final picture.
I have taken the liberty to call
this "Axel's Grove" out of a sense of pride and joy.
Each day we are a part of the "important groves of living"
and we can make a difference.
The real privileges go far beyond
the planting of a few trees but as an example it will do!
The fall of
a leaf is a whisper to the living.
Russian proverb
He who plants
trees loves others besides himself.
Anonymous
The creation
of a thousand forests is in one acorn.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Someone's sitting
in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time
ago.
Warren Buffett
A nation that
destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of
our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our
people.
Franklin Delano
Roosevelt
The care of
the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and after all,
our most pleasing responsibility.
Wendell Berry
