What you see here are the remains of an orchard.

An orchard I drive by often, on the grounds of an empty house. Last year, on my drives, I watched as the trees blossomed in billows of white that sent apple-blossom fragrance through the car, watches as the apples ripened, fell unused to the ground, or clung to the branches after the leaves were gone, shrivelling as they froze. I thought a couple times of trying to track down someone who might be able to give me permission to gather and use the apples, as they were likely unsprayed, in their abandoned state.

Now, as winter draws to a close, the grounds of the house are filled with bulldozers. Other large trees on the property have been felled and bulldozed into piles, likely for burning at some point. I looked at the orchard with a sinking feeling in my stomach - surely they wouldn’t bulldoze it? Surely, someone would value a pretty, productive, beautifully laid out little orchard right in their backyard? Surely, a community would not bulldoze an asset that takes years to establish?

But no, the day came when on my drive by, the beautiful little apple trees had been hacked down to these trunk stumps. The stumps have sat like this for weeks now. They must be awaiting the bulldozer. The bulldozer sits quietly beside them. I wonder, why not just bulldoze them, then, and be done with it? Why leave it like a mockery to spring? Was it important to chop the tops off the trees before the buds begin to swell and look alive? Important to start the destruction before the blossoms break and create a reminder of what is being destroyed?

Someday, I am convinced, (some of) our decendants will look back on this time as we do upon historical times of misled thinking, and wonder at how it could have been so. How could a society condone bulldozing trees into piles to burn, rather than at least providing firewood to the community? How could they destroy a productive source of local fruit, then pay in so many ways to ship what they eat thousands of miles? How does this make sense? I am filled with sadness when I drive past this spot.

I wonder what they will name the subdivision. “Apple Acres”, perhaps.