since saturday, there has been a lot of destruction going on behind our back fence and i'm feeling very sad about it. the tract of bushland behind us is in the process of being demolished to make way for a residential development.
Pigma micron pen & watercolour in 11½" x 8" Moleskine journal
click to enlarge any pic
there will be no more observations of the kookaburras and other birds nesting in the termite nest set high up in the tree behind our fence
no more picnics in the backyard whilst enjoying the chatter and activity of the birds in the overhanging branches above us
yesterday, the machines came for you, the last tree standing behind our backyard fence
they roped you, pulled you and sawed away at your base
the birds protested and i cried as.... 
...you fell
and you were no more
....a feeling of emptiness now prevails 
there you lay behind our fence....broken and doomed
...while the carnage continues
my heart is sad
and i will miss you~ love, light and peace ~
Thats sad Serena. What a shame. Progress is not always a good thing. I hope your don't get some two story monstrosity built there over shadowing your yard. :O(
ReplyDeletex Bee
:( poor tree :(
ReplyDeleteHow sad to see those lovely trees go
ReplyDeleteThat is so very sad. I hate to see the destruction of ANY tree but yours was so special. Your journal page is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteOh Serena, this must feel devastating to you and your family. What a treasure that little piece of nature was. I'm feeling the pain with you as I look at the photographs.
ReplyDeleteI felt like the perpetrator of a terrible crime against nature myself when we cleared our lot to build our home. I still feel sad about it.
Oh, Serena, how sad. I hate seeing the destruction of trees. And it would seem that your peace and quiet will be interrupted for quite some time while the building goes on. I hope it isn't too bad.
ReplyDeleteI have to go to the zoo to see birds like that here;-) That is sad about the destruction of the trees. I hate that they demolish so much to construct.
ReplyDeleteOuch, ouch. This calls to mind Gerard Manley Hopkins' poem "Binsey Poplars." Why, why do we do this to what is left of our earth? Why can't we live WITH the trees instead of in place of them?
ReplyDeleteOH no...WHY do they do this! It makes me so sad to see beautiful old trees taken down, or young ones.
ReplyDeleteYou sketch is gorgeous! You outdid yourself. I can tell you loved those trees from your drawing of them.
I have had two specific tree demolitions that came to mind around here that affected to to tears and remorse for weeks! I have found that the one (where they are re-doing our library) has been replanted with gorgeous trees all around it and in the parking lot! My faith was restored. The other was that cut down prickly pear tree, and do you know that thing is half way back to where it was when it was chopped down to 4 ft. Another restoration of my soul!!! You may be (hopefully) so happy if they re-plant some nice beautiful trees, and all will be well again. I will be praying for that!
ReplyDeletexoxo- Julie
I really can't find the words to say. I'm choked up. I've seen it happen. It's no use to console oneself by saying it goes on every day.
ReplyDeleteSo senseless, and so terrible. I am sorry, Serena, for your loss.
Awww, how very sad, Serena. I do hope they don't build tall structures that overlook your yard! I was devastated when they cleared a large lot down the road from us, and curious to see what they planned for it. Well, they never built anything there, and new trees have grown up to replace the old ones. Life goes on.
ReplyDeleteOh I am so sad too. What are they thinking? Perhaps you can plant some trees in your back yard.It may take a few years but soon you can have a habitat for the birds there. I almost cried when they cut some beautiful old trees near here last year. We need our trees.
ReplyDeleteOh Serena, I feel so sad for you!! The drawing you made in memory of this land is really good!!! I'm always inspired by what you draw :D
ReplyDeleteThat is such a shame. My heart always laments when I see clear cutting going on. It pisses me off, actually. The environment and the people who move into these new residential areas would be better served to have as much of the mature growth preserved around the new structures instead of sand blasting it down to nothing and starting from scratch. Makes NO sense to me. None.
ReplyDeletePeace~
Dawn
Thanks for your understanding thoughts, everyone.
ReplyDeleteI feel so sad every time I look beyond the back fence now. Residential development has replaced so much of our natural bushland in this area and it's just tears me up. I realise the land on which this very house stands was once a part of that very same bushland but surely we must reach a point where we say enough is enough. We must leave some of the natural bushland in tact. At the end of the day I guess it comes down to the almighty dollar and the fact that man seems to be intent on destroying the planet....will we never learn?
I'm not looking forward to the months and months of construction that lie ahead either. If only I had known this would be happening BEFORE I signed up for a new 12 month lease a couple of months ago.
Life goes on, I guess...but I miss my trees terribly. :(
That is so sad. I know exactly how you feel with the trees. Our neighbor has an oak tree over 100 years old and the neighbor on the other side had half of the tree sawed off so it would not hang over his yard. Of course, the once majestic tree now looks horrible to the dismay of so many in the neighborhood. There are so many new housing developments doing what the one by you is doing, so very sad.
ReplyDeleteI'm new here and really like your blog! That is some bird nest and your art work is beautiful!
the price of bloody progress!! it's devastating.... and doesn't have to be .... they sure as hell should be able to work around a few trees.... no wonder there is such havoc when it finally rains...no "nature" left to soak up any of it......
ReplyDeleteThe brush and trees are being felled all along the highway for a few miles on the way to the golf course near hear as well... to let the damn bulldozers and huge dirt haulers move all the dirt around creating huge burms as they call them.... it is all dirt and brown..... ugly.... I want to see greeeeeeeeen!!
Thank goodness there is plenty of green for many miles around the course....they can't touch it either.... farms and protected areas....whew.....
Thank you so much for visiting my blog all the way over in Africa, & for your comment on my recent post. I was sad to read yours today, I too, have cried when trees have been cut down - how sad that this wonderful area behind you home is to make way for development. I hope all the animals & birds can find new, safe, homes somewhere.
ReplyDeleteLynda, Kilimanjaro, East Africa
Hi Serena - thank you dropping by my blog - lovely to 'meet' you!
ReplyDeleteYour tale of the destruction of such a wonderful habitat for wildlife brings tears to my eyes - it can never be brought back, can it! Gorgeous journal page though - the best way to record such things. x
Oh Serena,
ReplyDeleteMy heart cries out too! :(
But the Almighty dollar Always wins! The noise back there is going to be horrible soon. So please enjoy your yard while you can. Your sketch is perfect.
Hugs and Peace
i know EXACTLY how you feel. I too wrote a couple of years ago about the same thing happening over my fence and I recently re-posted a couple of months ago. I cried and cired as it happened. It showed my on the deepest level how we are all connected,how the energy from the tress flows to me and vice versa. If only everyone could FEEL what we feel, the way we feel it, then the earth would be in such a different state.
ReplyDeleteIm so sorry that this has happened, to you, the trees and all of the beautiful wildlife that depended on them.
Namaste
xm
that is so sad ):
ReplyDeletethis post made me weep. How can they just come in and rip these trees up like that. It must have been dreadful for you Serena, is there any way you can go and gather a little of the tree to be with you?
ReplyDeleteA fitting tribute and loving job done on the trees in your journal, Serena. I know how deeply it effected me when they plowed under the prairie grasslands and filled in the natural pond in the fields I look at from my windows. I used to watch the rabbits play and go to sleep from spring to fall listening to the sounds of the frogs, songbirds, ducks, crickets--it was like living in the country with that piece of natural land left sprawling there. They've slowly been constructing office buildings and parking lots. Still bothers me every time I see the yellow machinery in the field--even tho I know the apartment I am gazing from with such sorrow used to be prairieland, too. Hurts the soul when the land screams.
ReplyDeleteOh no Serena! I'm sobbing with you! Is there somewhere else close-by where the Kookaburras will be able to go? It just makes me sick to the stomach! You've captured the trees and their nest perfectly, a fitting tribute.
ReplyDeleteThanks for popping over the read the post, Maree. We do have a small creek which is a tree-scaped at the end of our street so I only hope the kookaburras were able to make a new nesting home there. The vacated termite nest was ideal for them and other birds. The bushland area covered a large block of land so my heart went out to all the creatures living there at the time and the ones who probably died from injury as a result of the clearing. I still feel very sad when I think about it. I'm glad you liked my tribute sketch. xo
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