Big Oak Encounter
Meet Big Burr Oak
On Wednesdays , the Morton Arboretum Education Program Guides - past and present - meet in the “off season” for a hike . All of 2020 and unfortunately most of 2021 has and will be an “off season” for our guided school program field trips. But gathering with these wonderful people for a weekly walk in the woods has been a balm for the soul throughout this pandemic.
Last week, Beth, our “fearless” organizer, suggested meeting at a spot in the Arb where she could show us a magnificent Burr Oak, Quercus macrocarpa, she had recently encountered while working with an invasive species control group. She said, “I literally gasped out loud when I saw it”.
So off we went, on a snowy, icy trail . We came to the place where we needed to go off trail. Beth assured us, “it’s not too far”. So we continued through knee deep snow. That was ok. We trusted Beth.
“Here it is!” , Beth exclaimed. And because I had only been looking down at where my feet were going to land in the snow, I looked up to find I was directly under the tree. I gasped out loud.
I’m guessing this Burr Oak is at least 200 years old. She seems larger, definitely taller, than the Millennial White Oak on the west side of the Arb, dating before 1800. How many birds, squirrels, racoons might it have housed? And the nourishment it has provided both by its acorns and through its root system. Wow!
As I gazed at this photo, wondering what I wanted to say about this grand tree, the poem “The Velveteen Rabbit” floated into my head. “What is REAL?” asked the Rabbit. “Real isn’t how you are made”, said the Skin Horse, “It’s a thing that happens to you”.
“Does it happen all at once"?, he asked
“You become”, said the Skin Horse. “It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept.”
This majestic tree has endured. This tree is REAL!
Later that same morning…..
We came across this Snow Woman. She clearly looked like she had experienced enough of our frigid, snowy winter, and was feeling a little bit “over it”. About 20 minutes later, on our return we saw that the “cycle of life” had transpired.
The end.