Here is our sweet Truly, sadly no longer with us, as she was a few years into her rehabilitation after being bitten through the pituitary gland by a large dog when she was only 5 weeks old. She was never quite normal, looked like a perpetual puppy, and she was quirky but she was Truly Sweet for nine years longer than others might have allowed her to live. In this 1999 photo she and George Xarchos, who is now about 13 years old, are checking each other out with the same curious postures.
Now that I have your attention with a cute picture, and in Truly’s honor:
Despite a federal court ruling against essentially the same proposal earlier this year, the Bush/Cheney Administration is attempting to pass a proposal to eliminate safeguards that could lead to the slaughter of as many as 1,000 wolves in Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies, two-thirds of the wolf population in that area.
Please sign a petition against this proposal by the Bush/Cheney Administration that will eliminate vital protection for wolves in Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies. The petition will urge U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to go back to the drawing board and come up with a balanced and responsible management plan for our wolves. There is a cover letter provided or you can leave your own comments if you like, and they will be collected by Defenders Of Wildlife and submitted on your behalf.
This set of photos honors the efforts of a petition to halt construction on John’s Island, South Carolina that would encroach on an area of land boasting an Oak tree estimated to be between 1,400 and 1,500 years old.
Charleston, SC is proud of its heritage and respected for its commitment to preserving history in the area, so residents hope that plans will not proceed to cut down nearby trees and forest in favor of land development. Charleston, SC is proud of its heritage and respected for its commitment to preserving history in the area, and on the Angel Oak petition website, even if you don’t sign (but please do), you will still be able to read pages of interesting comments and pleas from residents who have fond memories of climbing the immense branches as children, and whose children now do the same; how a nearby elementary school carries its’ name, and exclamations by tourists who have visited the area specifically to see the Angel Oak.
This summer my husband and I drove through South Carolina and took a short detour to John’s Island. We drove through wicked rains at the edge of Tropical storm Faye, so when we arrived at Angel Oak park no one else was there. The tree trunk and lower branches are so immense, they have been propped up with stakes and heavy cables here and there, which is a little intrusive but obviously necessary. Growth is spread outward more than upward, occupying an enormous space at least 150 feet wide.
It occurred to me that this tree has lived through one serious chunk of history, and wondered what was happening on our planet when The Angel Oak was knee-high to an acorn? 1400 years ago it was the year 608 A.D., Common Era. Almost everything we are familiar with; our collective modern identity has been shaped by many of the events and people who lived and died since the Angel Tree established its first roots in the earth.
Angel Oak’s parent-tree was undoubtedly alive for centuries before and during the year 476 A.D. when the last of the Roman emperors died, bringing about the Fall of Rome. Around the 7th Century A.D. an acorn falls from one of the magnificent Oaks on the southeastern shores of a land only known to the indigenous peoples; a land we now refer to as North America. The acorn sprouts along with many others…but this one will outlive the rest, seasoning hurricanes, wars, and countless generations of playful children climbing it’s branches; it sprouts in conjunction with the collapse of Teotihuacan, one of the major cities in Mesoamerica with widespread influence in central Mexico. The Toltec civilization was unheard of, and would not flourish for another 500 years (1100-1521). Aztecs did not seize power until the 13th century.
When this tree was 300 years old during 901 A.D., the Vikings discovered Greenland. In 1066 William the Conqueror and the Norman troops conquered England altering the English culture forever by bringing French rule and rivalry with France until the The French Revolution occuring from 1789 - 1799. Circa 1100 A.D. the famous Buddhist temple, Angkor Wat in Cambodia is constructed to house the Hindu faith. Around 1275 A.D. Marco Polo, the Venetian explorer and trader visits China via the The Silk Road, returning to Europe with new foods and goods from the Orient which impact modern culture, medicine and dietary habits today.
The Black Death devastates Europe around 1348 A.D., while the 740 year old Angel Oak thrives. Columbus and other adventurers would not claim to discover America for another 144 years (C. 1592). Leonardo da Vinci, a man light-years ahead of his time in the field of science and medicine through his various studies. By the time he would paint the Mona Lisa and Michelangelo would paint the Sistine Chapel, the Angel Oak has lived for 900 years. The Tree continues growth beyond the life of Galileo, father of modern Astronomy, and through the life of Shakespeare, who established some of the most famous English literature in our era (c. 1564 - 1616).
Year 1776 - Angel Oak is 1,166 years old when the U.S. breaks free from British rule and establishes the first Independence Day In 1895, and by the time the Angel Oak had already survived for 1,287 winters Sigmund Freud would bring modern medicine and humanity into a new open-minded age by announcing his theories of dream psychoanalysis and studies of the human psyche.
The First World War between 1914-1918 was followed by WWII, 1939 -45/51.
According to after the Category 5 Hurricane Hugo hit the coast of in 1989, Governor Carroll Campbell is reported to say that the storm destroyed enough timber in South Carolina to frame a home for every family in the state of West Virginia. All those trees and forests obliterated, yet The Angel Oak survived. It has since healed injuries inflicted by Hurricane Hugo.
The petition is looking for only 20,000 signatures, and has over 900 as I write this post. If you are interested, here is the petition link.
Here is our sweet Truly, sadly no longer with us, as she was a few years into her rehabilitation after being bitten through the pituitary gland by a large dog when she was only 5 weeks old. She was never quite normal, looked like a perpetual puppy, and she was quirky but she was Truly Sweet for nine years longer than others might have allowed her to live. In this 1999 photo she and George Xarchos, who is now about 13 years old, are checking each other out with the same curious postures.
