A healthy redwood tree has one trunk, but sometimes another will begin to grow. The second trunk adds stress and strain to the original. A heavy wind can split the tree and kill it. Sometimes another tree will grow so close, the trunks will become fused. When one becomes too large or diseased, it tears away, causing great damage to both.
We had an arborist come out to check our redwoods recently and he pointed out two trees that had developed second trunks high up. We hired him to save the trees. He returned with the proper equipment, climbed twenty feet up and cut away the weaker “trunk”.
I started thinking about how divided our nation has become. No one seems to listen to the other side. They battle one another, fighting for power, shouting over one another while ignoring the damage being done to the solid root on which we all can grow. When trunks pull against one another, the divide widens until the split kills the tree.
Redwood trees do best in groves. The trees grow close together. Their roots intertwine. They strengthen one another. They can stand the heavy winds, the floods, even the fires. And each, though part of a whole, are individuals.
Redwoods live for centuries.
Will we?
