A tree grew in the forest. A small oak seed fell into an area where a chipmunk had dug a truffle and was covered over at the right time in an area where it would be free to grow. So it grew to be a mighty oak and birth several generatios of smaller oak that lived and passed during her seven hundred year lifetime. When the last gasp of photosynthesized life extinguished, the roots of the oak drew water no more.
If our tree was a human, we would have a wake, say a few prayers and bury her in the ground. A human might harvest our dead oak for firewood, but if nature be allowed to take its course, i shall continue this short tall tale. I will use some names for younger readers to untangle the yarn.
First to notice were the fun guys. Old mother oak stopped the sugar pump, so all the newts that the fun guys had piled were standing at the dock, waiting for daily trade. Just take the sugars and we'll sell our newts to the four age folks. Squirrels, mice, voles and other small critters turned mama's hulk into a thriving metropolis, so the fun guys could continually mine sugar from the roots and obtaining other perks elsewhere.
The birds found Mama Oak and wood peckers had created homes in the upper and lower cavities. Smaller critters found the holes, so more pock marks soon became more homes as years progressed. The Mos-N like ken in their own deconstruction roles, removes water and newts, allowing gaps for sugar breakers to convert mama's wood stores to powder. Beetle, Bug and Termite unions provide specialty acids to first peel off all bark, then rot through the heartwood, as everybody carried off precious water from the bonds that were briken in the mining process.
After 436 years of stability of habitat, a shrill wind caught the mama oak snag just right and she toppled to the ground - dragging down six other mature trees - an oak, two madrone, an incense cedar and two fruit trees (our squirrels were busy). The top broke off and bounced and the tree also split against the cedar a third way up, so three giant pieces lay in the ground and the rootwad with dirt was perced in the air.
No more birds, and no more upper story shelter for smaller critters. Larger critters expanded on the holes and feasted on the access to the internal treats hidden. The worms crawl in and out and over 250 years, mama oak melts down into humus soil and stuff that the fun guys can make a killing with. Different forms of second team pack-rats take positions and enhance the living conditions, while other for age folks find uses for branch parts and any salvagable good. The entire deconstruction of mother oak tree provides food, shelter and habitat for all sort of members of the guild.
American culture lasted 230 years since the hey-days of 1776. Let's take the next few years and plan for a rational deconstruction of the entity in such a way that we can maintain the forest despite the death of this tree. This analogy provides for a 230 year decay cycle - lets get started by ditching the Patriot Act and reminding the public servants that they work for us.
not an oak, but ...
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