Not too far from our house, there’s a state nature preserve that has some of the largest (meaning oldest) trees in the state. According to the state government webpage, Goll Woods State Nature Preserve is the “least disturbed woodland known to remain in extreme northwestern Ohio.” My husband and I decided to check it out, and though we didn’t traverse all five miles of trails, we did see some of the largest trees in the state, some up to four feet in diameter.
Some of the largest and oldest trees had signs explaining the tree species and their characteristics as well as how old they were estimated to be based on a core sample taken and studied in 2017. One tree I took a picture of was the Bur Oak with its fiddle-shaped leaves and fringed acorns. The core sample from the Bur Oak tree dated back to 1692, and the historical marker sign indicated that this tree was alive and growing when Deputy Surveyor Benjamin Hough surveyed the area back in 1815 as part of the Great Black Swamp survey project in northwestern Ohio. The historical marker even suggested that Hough could have camped beneath this very Bur Oak tree.
And that is what excites me about this tree: it’s still here. It has survived the French and Indian War (1754-1763), the Northwest Indian War (1785-1795), Tecumseh’s War (1811-1812), and the War of 1812 (1812-1814), all of which involved northwestern Ohio. Beyond these human-made conflicts, it has survived tornadoes, fires, droughts, winter storms, pestilence, and disease. It’s still here.
This Bur Oak tree will keep on producing oxygen, taking in our carbon dioxide, and providing acorns and shelter to local squirrels and wildlife. It is a life giver, not a life taker. I’m betting that this tree will outlive our current administration. It will outlive the cruelty that characterizes much of what we see in sensationalized and often false media. You see, things that promote life and well-being for others survive, but what does not promote life and well-being for others will not last. Even as “a rising tide lifts all boats,” so this Bur Oak tree has survived 333 years by giving and supporting life around it. Friends, take heart. It’s still here.