I Have A Question

I Have A Question

One of the most important holidays in American history is celebrated on July 4th, every year. An influential group of men agreed to draft a document that would cause concern with their overseas sponsors.

 This decision led to war with England, severing all future supplies and aid from ‘The Mother Country". Truly, a revolutionary act! The ‘colonists’ landed in the 1600’s and struggled until they finally decided to split from England over a hundred years later. Why the delay and why did they come in the first place?

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For some, they had no choice. Other than the religion issue, several were indentured servants sent by English businessmen to "pay back a  debt", find the gold that earlier Spaniards claimed was available, and simply to help the English economy. European farmers had realized that England’s crop and dairy farms were not as profitable as raising sheep to sell the desired wool. Agriculture and food supplies dwindled. Besides, the English church system was being troublesome for English worshipers. Some left for Holland for religious freedom, but found that unfavorable and news of the ‘new world’ possibilities became a chance for a better future. English noblemen offered passage to America as a loan and the travelers were expected to repay the loan. The passenger manifest of military veterans, Scandinavians, Hollanders, Germans as well as citizens being excommunicated found most travelers unprepared for the tasks ahead.

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Workers seemed to lack farm and building skills while arrivals convinced others to search for the

fabled gold. Crops were planted too late and the long winters were unexpectedly fierce. Without the help of the native Americans who watched and aided the newcomers, the outcome was in jeopardy. Why were these people so unprepared? Where did they come from? Everyone knows Germans come from Germany, Swedes from Sweden, etc, but what was their background?

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American became known as a "Cultural Melting Pot". Europe is also a melting pot of genetic lineages from different prehistoric cultures that lived there at various periods of time. Europeans today are a genetic mixture of ancestral populations: hunter-gatherers, and farmers.Genetic science has come a long way! DNA and genomes are revealing much!.

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 Bones and relics have been carbon-analyzed and compared with those of other areas. Early specimens show signs of meat-eaters. These were the early ‘hunters for food’.
"The hunter-gatherers show the greatest similarity to modern-day Finns", says Geneticist Skoglund. "It was a surprise that the farmer and hunter-gatherers were so different. Scandinavia was clearly home to people of very different genetic backgrounds even 5,000 years ago," he says.

Early migratory movements in Europe.

 

 

 

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These ‘hunter-gatherer’ were joined by a group coming from the steppes of Russia!

Modern Europe was formed when a mass migration from southern Russia brought new languages, technology and dairy farming to the continent, according to a recent a study .  

 The hunter-gathering society had no tolerance for milk and ‘Lactose Intolerance’ was born! However, 'Time' created a mutation for the blended new group. With this in mind, modern day people may have Russia to blame for any problem with milk consumption. These migrating farmer-types with cows came from the Russian Causasus region and were called the Yamnaya People. The ‘white man’ became known as a Caucasian. Sounds familiar! But milk-drinking Russians?!
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They brought with them new skills and a language that became the basis of almost every other European language, including Greek and Latin, English and German, as well as spreading their DNA. The Hunters-gatherers remained in Norway, while the southern sections of Sweden became centers of the Yamnaya culture.So, when one claims " I’m all Norwegian, or Swede, or German", they may be omitting genes of Russia, Africa and even Asia in their DNA.

 Geneticists analyzing DNA from Neolithic burial sites in Sweden have made a surprising discovery. The genetic make-up of one individual exhibits a startling similarity to that of modern-day Mediterranean. Modern humans may have picked up key genes from extinct relatives.

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Every European region or country had it’s culture as opposed to that of their neighbor and each had their own customs. As an Army G.I. in Germany, it was common for us to start a car journey in Germany and be able to travel through 6 countries in one day. We would struggle through 6 languages while stopping in each country for gas or food. Here, in the US, we also can travel southerly from New York through a number of states. However, one language will be needed, albeit, with a number of different accents!.

Boston Tea Party

There were differences and arguments among the colonies. Rhode Island settlers had difference of opinions for 40 years. English taxation caused major problems. After months of colonist protests, plans to break from English rule found six colonies refusing to join the drive to independence. Finally. after months of debate, 12 voted to break away while New York voted to abstain.

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       The American Declaration of Independence was not issued until 15 months after the War of Independence had begun. In it, after 1,200 words of self-justification, at the very end of the document the colonists finally declared that these 'united colonies' were to be free and independent states; Even so, The thirteen colonies were not united until after the war was over . Many colonists had no desire to break away from Britain.

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The cultural melting-pot of Europe came to America with their many historical differences. These  differences in each colony were reflected in each colony’s cultural belief. Our Northern colonies and Southern colonies have continued their individual beliefs.Perhaps,even today, some of us would like to be hunter-gatherers while others tend the farms and  business lives.

July 4th, we celebrate, in unity, our Independence.

June 6,1944

Every generation knows the horrors of warring enemies. The first territorial conflict in “The Timetable of Wars” records The Battle of Kadesh around 1274 BC. This battle involved Egyptian forces under Rammes II and the Hittite Empire  in battle over the land now known as Syria.

 Time has marched on, but that territory is still a battleground to this very day! Rare are days between Kadesh  and our current days that would be called ‘peaceful’ while  battles  continue and actually overlap somewhere on our planet.

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June 6th marks one of our most recent national conflicts involving American armed service people. Following “The War To End All Wars”, one defeated nation felt humiliated. One surviving soldier believed the politicians lost the war that the soldiers were capable of winning. This ‘one person’ convinced his downtrodden brethren to rise up, recover their pride and lost territory. World War II began. Hitler blasted across western Europe and threatened to conquer Britain.

Nazi German troops were stationed in France and watched for British and American allies to come to the attack. French western beaches looked peaceful in 1944, although under German occupation. Things were about to change.

Normandy Beach, France

 American military plans as well as French, British and representatives from other countries were busily

Ike and  Allied planners

planning an ‘over the channel’ military action to battle the Nazi advances. The weather had been unusually stormy for this spring and finding a time to ferry all needed personnel and supplies was a difficult task. After several meetings, a  Royal Air Force Captain  met with the American general Eisenhower on the evening of 4 June. He and his meteorological team predicted that the weather would improve sufficiently so that the invasion could go ahead on 6 June, 1944. Naval operations for the invasion were described by historian Correlli Barnett as a "never surpassed masterpiece of planning".

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  The intricate planning involved aerial and naval bombardment, an airborne assault, plus the landing of 24,000 British, US, and Canadian airborne troops to be landed shortly after midnight on the coast of France. Due to the very unsettled weather and stormy seas, the Germans, who expected the attack somewhere were convinced that this would not be the time and relaxed their vigilance.

                                                         

But June 6th, 1944 was the time. The code name for the operation was “D-Day”. There apparently is no significance for the term ‘D-Day’ other than the need for secrecy.It was simply code for ’The Day”. The weather cleared for a short time and Operation Overlord was underway. Armored divisions began landing  on the coast of France at 06:30 ( 6:30AM). The men landed under heavy fire from gun emplacements overlooking the French beaches that were mined and covered withstakes, metal tripods, and barbed wire, making the work of  beach clearing teams difficult and dangerous. Casualties were heaviest at “Omaha Beach” with its high cliffs. Several fortified towns had to be cleared in house-to-house fighting, and major gun emplacements  were disabled using specialized tanks as soldiers  attacked their enemy on beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. Allied infantry were unable to achieve all of their goals on the first day and several villages were heavily defended by German occupiers, causing heavy casualties among allied troops who fought and died in the battle. The beachhead was not cleared from the enemy until  July 21st and the cost of this invasion was high. About 9,000 were reported killed or wounded in this battle that began June 6th, 1944.

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An underground newspaper team in Norway

Europe, as a whole had been  occupied since the Nazi war-machine had overrun country after country, but as the news of D-Day spread around the world, resistance to the Nazi occupiers began to intensify. Armed resistance, in the form of sabotage, commando raids, and other special operations during the occupation continued while being occupied' Armed resistance, in the form of sabotage, commando raids, assassinations and other special operations during the occupation, being discovered often meant death or concentration camp, but civil disobedience and unarmed resistance continued. Norway citizens devised many ways to practice their national pride while aiding downed allied pilots and maintaining  contact with England.

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Milorg fighters parade in public

.The Norwegian resistance to the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany had begun in 1940 , sending information to help the D-Day allied forces before finally  ending in 1945. Norway’s Milorg, or underground fighters maintained approximately eighty concealed radio stations to aid the invasion in June.These forbidden radio stations contributed a key role in the invasion, due to the fact that the majority of Allied forces information came through Norway’s Milorg's radio network.

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A cricket

Countless details were devised to aid the scattered D-Day invaders. Communications among the parachutists had to be established in silence. This was done using a child’s toy that made the sound of a cricket. When pressed twice, the sender waited for an answering sound. Joining together, the soldiers finally were able to reform their units and get underway in the darkness and early morning light. 

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 By late August 1944, all of northern France had been liberated, and by the following spring, the Allies had defeated the Germans.      General Dwight Eisenhower once said “Andrew Higgins  is the man who won the war for us”. 

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Higgins is the man who designed and built LCVPs ( military for landing craft, vehicles, personnel), the

The  LCVP

amphibious vehicles that enabled the Allied forces to cross the channel. Eisenhower is reported to have said, “If Higgins had not designed and built those LCVPs, we never could have landed over an open beach. The whole strategy of the war would have been different.” These motorized wooden boats could carry approximately 39 soldiers and were able to transport them from ship to shore.

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Since this epic battle, the scenes of war have changed. Large concentrations of troops have been discontinued and changed to  that of  smaller attacking stealth groups, resulting in fewer casualties. D-Day resulted in approximately 9,000 men killed or wounded in one day.

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This year is the 71st year in remembrance of D-Day in Europe.

At least six memorial events will be observed in the area of France’s Normandy beach to honor those who gave their lives, recognizing the few still alive veterans, and  to commemorate the event known as            “The beginning of the end” of WWII, June 6, 1944.

I Didn't Know!

It’s time! Many have already finalized their ‘getaway’ plans for the summer. Schools are closing the books for this teaching season and it’s finally warming up enough to get out and enjoy the outdoors.But for the ‘undecided’, brochures are being examined.

This has been a crazy spring and there’s reason to believe that summer will be “more of the same!”.
This year’s ‘Mother’s Day” found blizzard conditions with 24 inches of snow in South Dakota, tornadoes raging from Texas to Iowa, California residents  highly concerned about ongoing drought conditions, and the hurricane season will soon be underway from June to November in the east coast!.  So, where would you like to go?
 How about Yellowstone National Park? Personally, I’ve never been there and always wanted to visit the place. At least until I read the latest news...

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Everyone knows about “Old Faithful” and the numerous hot springs, but a recent scientific survey of the area has made some interesting discoveries.Yellowstone National Park is a wilderness recreation area atop a volcanic hot spot.There are close to two dozen

Beneath Yellowstone National Park

supervolcanoes around the world, but Yellowstone is the largest.The park’s fiery underground  is being fueled by a giant pulsating chamber of magma—molten and semi-molten rock and dissolved gases in an area  55 miles by 20 miles and 6 miles deep, according to the latest measurements in 2013. Geologists estimate that Yellowstone’s  growing magma pocket has now swelled and released once every 730,000 years or so.  The biggest Yellowstone explosion, about two million years ago, resulted in an eruption rated to have been 10,000 times as big as the 1980 Mount St . Helens eruption. That one destroyed  150 square miles of forest and killed 57 people!   I'm not sure I would like  to be camping in the area.

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Our weather conditions seem to be changing. Things are happening underground and

overhead. We can’t be held responsible for volcanic eruptions, but Mother Nature may be reacting to what we do to the air above! Our smokestacks and our constant need to chop down trees are polluting our atmosphere, causing nature’s air currents  to change their course. Way up north, there’s a floating tongue of ice that extends off the continent’s main
landmass - The Ross Ice Shelf-  that covers more than 197,000 square miles and is the largest ice shelf that has ever been discovered. In March of 2000, an ice chunk broke off  that was 170 miles long and 25 miles wide or roughly the size of the state of Connecticut. Scientists claim that if the entire ice sheet were to melt, it would raise global sea levels by about 16 feet. If that would happen, we would not be traveling to those sea-side resorts or hotels.

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 Greenhouse gas is the normal term for ‘trouble in our atmosphere’ and is accused, by many, to be causing alternations in our weather patterns.

 While pollution is being caused, there are byproducts that are beneficial. One of which is carbon dioxide (CO2) . This colorless,

odorless gas accused of air pollution is vital to plant life on earth is emitted from those active volcanoes, hot springs and geysers we love to visit. However, excess CO2  is also  being produced by burning wood, carbohydrates and major carbon and hydrocarbon-rich fossil fuels such as coal, peat, petroleum and natural gas. What to do about the excess?

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"Discoverer" of CO2 Jan Babtist van Helmont

Flemish chemist Jan Baptist van Helmont observed that when he burned charcoal in a closed vessel, the mass of the resulting ash was much less than that of the original charcoal. His interpretation was that the rest of the charcoal had been changed into an invisible substance he termed a "gas" or "wild spirit". What would we do without our charcoal grill?

Carbon dioxide is everywhere.Trees use it, we exhale it, plants need it, even mosquitoes seem to sense it! It’s an important greenhouse gas, but too much is too much . How do we control the volume of this important chemical output of something we actually need?

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Countries have been hard at work to solve this puzzle of “ How to control pollution and how to keep the world from overheating.” The United States along with other countries have been studying the problem, however critics as well as some corporations are reluctant to spend money to control the excesses. We, in the USA, are watching our over-seas neighbors and seeing some interesting studies and progress underway.

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 Norway is working on controlling emissions as well as actually storing CO2 for export and use!

Action is now been taken in western Norway to make  storage facilities cheaper and more efficient. Carbon dioxide has many uses and Norway will have this gas for sale when needed.Geologist Ine Gjeldvik of the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate states: “This greenhouse gas (CO 2 ) can be captured, transported and injected into storage areas where it will not leak out and harm the

environment.” The process of‘capturing’ CO2 includes pressurizing the gas  to its liquid form which takes up less space.The liquid is then transported  to the ’storage well’ through pipelines or by ship.  Geologists constantly look for structures where dry wells were drilled (wells without traces of oil or gas), to see if they are suitable for storage, such as a dense rock formation  that envelops the reservoir into which they inject the liquid .  
These are called  sealing rocks,  often a dense shale with low or no porosity and no permeability. These rock areas found in Norway are said  to be ‘leakproof'. According to Statoil, ten million tons of CO2 have been injected into the Utsira Formation in Norway since the autumn of 1996. The NPD has led the work to confirm secure geological formations which can hold carbon dioxide volumes equal to Norway’s total emissions for 20 years. In many ways, CO2 storage is like oil recovery in reverse. Some greenhouse gases remain in the atmosphere for decades or even centuries, and therefore can affect the earth's energy balance over a long time period.

These gases can be detrimental to our health, so why would we try to store it for future use?

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  We use CO2 in many ways. Remember “Pop Rocks” popularity ‘back in the day’? A candy called Pop Rocks was pressurized with carbon dioxide gas. When placed in the mouth, it dissolved (just like other hard candy) and released  gas bubbles with an audible pop.
CO2 extinguishes flames, and  some fire extinguishers contain liquid carbon dioxide under pressure are effective in  extinguishes electrical fires. We all enjoy carbon dioxide  used to produce carbonated soft drinks and soda water.

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With this and more, Norway seems to have ‘an eye on the future’.

If you should decide to visit “Old Faithful” this summer, keep in mind that volcanoes and geysers emit carbon dioxide in great amounts into the air. 

Think of what we might do with that wasted CO2.  Norway knows.

Another Anniversary

It's been 75 years since it all began. Every nation became involved and the memories remain. All centered around one person and  his select group . Every year, they remember.

Corporal A. Hitler in WW1 uniform

                                   It was June 19, 1918 when the word came that the long and costly war was finally over.
A young German soldier,Corporal Adolph Hitler, had been partially blinded in a mustard gas attack and sent to a military hospital, where the news of the November 11, 1918, armistice reached him as he was convalescing. The end of the war was an emotional disaster for Hitler, adding more energy to his sense of  antisemitism. Losing the war, Germany’s financial struggles and political upheavals to follow gave him the opportunity to convince the German public that he was the man who would lead them back to greatness.

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Twenty years later, secretly creating a new army while surrounding himself with men of the same ilk, they set out to recover  lost territory. Many Germans in Austria supported Hitler’s nationalistic“back to The Motherland” movement and found little opposition from any other country and the annexation of Austria  March, 1938 was a simple exercise as the Nazis tested their new power. Adolf Hitler’s popularity grew.

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Glewitz Radio Station

Now, fully confident that bigger countries would not  interfere, The fanatical Nazi army under Hitler’s command  decided to invade Poland. Needing some excuse, they attacked a border Polish radio station falsely accused of broadcasting an “anti-German” sabotage message. After staging the attack,” in self-defense”, the conquest of Poland began September 1, 1939. The lightning war began.

Finnish soldiers in the Winter War

All this time, Finland had been involved in a dispute with Russian as Stalin demanded air bases and ore from Swedish mines.  The Soviets invaded Finland on November 30, 1939. (Stalin claimed that Finnish troops opened fire on Soviet troops.)The Finns needed help in the military action and Germany offered assistance. Finland was not a full supporter of Germany, but needed  help and  Germany  joined Finland to fight the Soviets. Finland remained unoccupied and maintained a democratic government throughout the conflict.
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  On  April 9th  1940, German warships entered major Norwegian

German warships being sunk in Norwegian Harbor

ports,  deploying thousands of German troops occupying Norway. At the same time, German forces occupied Copenhagen, among other Danish cities. In Denmark, King Christian X, convinced that his army could not fight off a German invasion, surrendered almost immediately, and Denmark, as well as Sweden, became a steppingstone to Norway.
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Continuing the Nazi Western Movement, Hitler’s war machine came to Sweden. Sweden had always enjoyed being a neutral state and wished to remain as such. For Germany,

German weapons being transported on Swedish railways

Sweden had no strategic importance other than Swedish iron ore and rail lines for Nazi troop movements westward and all this was achieved with no waste of Nazi troops. During the war, Nazi pilots who were shot down were jailed, while allied pilots who were shot down were free to go. Germany ignored the situation and Sweden remained neutral.
During the warm months, there was little German concern regarding the transportation of the ore into Germany. However, when winter snows shut down the railroad,  the route was forced to switched to a westward overland route into Norway, then transferred to

sea-going freighters which hugged the coast . This created a German problem. Germany had to control  the Norway route of Swedish ore to Germany. This, plus Norway’s coast was important for German warships, submarine bases and proximity for luftwaffe attacks on Great Britian. Norway was an  important target. The war that began  in 1939 continues into the next year.

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 partisan saboteurs at work.

Even before Denmark was fully occupied, German transports flew to Oslo from their new Danish airfields. The Norwegians fiercely resisted the Nazi invasion and underground partisans tied up a large portion of Nazi troops who hunted them throughout the “long five years” of occupation.Germany invaded Norway on April 9th 1940 and stayed there until Germany surrendered on May 8th, 1945. Adolf Hitler had hoped that France and Britain would no longer oppose  his conquests and quickly make peace, but was angered when that didn’t happen. On 10 October 1939, the British refused Hitler’s offer of peace and on the 12th of  October, the French did the same.After months of nervous speculation, Germany brought war to Western Europe  May 10, 1940. German bombers hit air bases in France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands. French leaders became resigned to an inevitable surrender and signed an armistice with Germany.

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Hitler’s Western Expansion movement was complete, but   Britain remained unconquered , Russia was now German’s enemy in the east and the USA would soon be forced into the war due to the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Hitler’s blitzkrieg war machine was now fighting a “two front war” and was finally finding heavy opposition.
The German occupation troops in France knew the Allied Forces were coming, but did not know when nor where they would land. After extensive planning, Allied troops completed  their landing operations on 6 June 1944,a day known as  D-Day, the largest

seaborne invasion in history. This began the liberation of France , and  all other countries from Nazi control as the Germany troops were forced into retreat  finally ending with an Allied victory in the war.

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1939 marked the beginning of armed conflict in Europe that resulted in historic atrocities, destruction, and death of millions of people by sadistic Nazi leaders who strived to liquidate all “sub-humans” and create a master race. Adolf Hitler and his Nazi regime were finally pushed back to Germany, relinquishing everything that was gained after 6 years of overrunning Europe.

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Every country marks the day the Nazis entered their country, beginning in 1939. This year marks the 75th anniversary of these individual country’s horrific day when the Nazis marched into their history.
 

Commemoration ceremony  are annually held in honor of all who served, suffered and died.This year marks the 75th  anniversary of the beginning of World War Two.

Oh, No!

A  Norway maple that stood the test of time and the northern Canadian climate for over eighty years is no longer.

Residents of Riverdale Park , East Toronto, Canada had taken a special interest in this old Norway maple that had recently suffered severe damage caused by a catastrophic ice storm, December 13th. Limbs were broken and the tree was marked  for removal by a city arborist  due to “its state of decline” and a work order  was  issued. After many public pleas , city officials agreed to prune the tree to make it safe and do some repair on the mature tree.

The work order to destroy the tree was rescinded and the service request cancelled. This aged tree was not considered to be “ the prettiest tree around” but it’s location in  the park, it’s appearance of strength and durability was appealing to residents. “The Norway” as it was known, was an important part of the city. So, a pruning crew, led by forestry chief  arrived early one morning, and few hours and 55 cuts later a third of the great tree’s canopy was gone, but the tree remained standing.
The tree was given a 60-70 per cent chance of survival and Dan Valley residents and visitors began to  root for “The Norway”. Arborists later reported that there was  no disease and there was never again any mention of the tree being slated for destruction. The tree's progress began to be a center of attention as everyone watched it’s progress, new growth and rugged durability. It gained even more respect as it survived and began to recover. “Old Norway” was going to remain a important part of local life.

Then, one February evening, residents returned home from work 

and found  “Old Norway” gone.

 That early February morning,contractors had arrived and cut the massive tree down, leaving a stump in the snow and branches and  debris strewn down the embankment towards the Don Valley below. Demands for explanation were  answered with “It was a mistake”. A “clerical error,” according to a city spokesperson . A Parks and Recreation clerk had found the original work order to destroy the tree,decided it was still in order and called the crew to destroy the maple tree.

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Adam and Eve were told about a tree in The Garden that they were not to touch. They decided to eat the tree’s fruit and everyone knows what happened! That was, again, a special tree!

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 Some trees achieve special attention, perhaps due to location, age or appearance.Stories past down through generations have resulted in many myths and beliefs concerning trees and their history.

 As elders told stories of the past,  sagas and myths were handed down from one generation to the next throughout the 400 years that marked the Viking episode of the Nordic culture. Some of those sagas concerned trees. The most important tree in Nordic history,

according to Norse myths caused  the end of Asgard, the world of the gods and home to Odin, Thor,and Loki. This great ash tree, known as “The Tree Yggdrasil”, (YEgg-dra-sell) was the “tree of life and wisdom” and was kept alive by the three women of fate (past, present, and future). The giant ash Yggdrasil was the largest of all Guardian Trees; it stretched up to the heavens and spread its branches over the entire earth. It was so large that a squirrel named Ratatoskr ran up and down the trunk carrying insults from Nidhögg up to an eagle who sits in the top-most branches, with a hawk perched between it's eyes. With all the wisdom in the upper branches, it is easy to imagine who resided in the roots! This tree was considered very holy and connected to the affairs of Odin.

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Another storied tree was that of "Thor’s Tree”,a sacred tree of the  pagans located in what is now the region of Hesse, Germany. A Christian missionary, who became known as Saint Boniface announced that he would suffer no harm as he accosted the pagans of the area by chopping down the massive tree of their faiths. As he began chopping, a violent wind blew down ‘Thor’s Tree”, causing the earlier pagans to become Christian believers. Wood from the oak was then reportedly used to build a church at the site dedicated to Saint Peter.

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Scandinavian farms often have a prominent tree standing alone in their farmsteads and maintained to honor the family and their descendants.The care and regard of the tree was believed to help insure the health of the farm and this tradition of planting a tree in   the center of the farm and this custom continues today in parts of Norway. In Sweden ,there is a similar tradition and the tree was
called a vårdträd  or caring/guardian tree.

Here in the US, we have well-respected trees, protected by their age and massive forms that have become tourist attractions,            but their ‘sacredness’ is questionable. 

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However, there is one US site that claims the title of " The Sacred Grove" , located  on a farm owned by the Smith family in western

New York. This is a  historical site of the LDS Church. The church operates a welcome center on the farm, which includes a replica of the log home built in 1818 by Joseph Smith, Sr., as well as the original frame home built by the Smiths in 1825 and is open to the public. On this site, Smith claims to have had communication with Heaven.
 The majority of the trees within the Sacred Grove are too young to have been present at the time the Smith family lived there. A forestry specialist hired by the church to care for the grove has identified only six trees in the grove that were alive in 1820, and  these trees are referred to as the "Witness Trees".

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Our most famous present-day tree might be a evergreen  conifer such as spruce, pine, or fir. This tree is sought every winter to 

celebrate Christmas. It is chosen for it’s beauty, then cut down and transported indoors to be decorated with lights and colored balls to celebrate the sacred Christmas season. After the ‘Ten Days of Christmas’ and the closing of the sacred season, the tree, which has lost its needles littering the carpet, is now carried to the curb  and discarded. So much for our practice of “sacred beliefs.”
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Sagas of our time that will be told to future generations  might consist of more ‘stumps’ then memorable and honorable sagas of our  legacy.

 It’s time to create our symbolic vårdträd .