向美国古董社区的大树告别

5月16日的龙卷风已经过去近二个月了，对人的心灵创伤始终在，虽然恐怖感渐减。古董社区也在恢复中，市里已经派特制卡车将残树运走，留下的树桩还需要与公司讨价还价。

 

现在面临的挑战是如何决定受伤大树的命运，富豪级别的麦律师提议将中间绿地带的树全部移走，然后让美国著名的园林公司竞标，恐怕会花超过几百万美元建园林景观。这样滩在每家身上恐怕高达5万美元，他聊到大家可以贷款，这家伙不缺钱。

 

最近似乎董事会沒有采纳他的建议，而是选择在需要锯的大树将红丝条带标上，等待它们的是生命终结的时刻。具有讽刺意义的是麦律师家前绿地的大树完好，几乎没有标定被砍的红丝带。整个古董社会大约还剩30%左右的树将会幸免，大家可以想象龙卷风的破坏程度。

我是对人随便砍树很反感的人，那天清晨看见死刑判决书般的红丝带后给董事们写了这封电子邮件，标题是“Saving our trees in the Portland Place”（保存Portland私人社区的树）：

 

Dear Trustees,（亲爱的董事）

 

First and foremost, I want to express my deep gratitude for your tireless efforts in the aftermath of the recent tornado. This truly has been a once-in-a-lifetime event, and your hard work in helping our neighborhood recover is appreciated more than words can express.

 

(首先，我要对您在近期龙卷风过后的不懈努力表达我深深的感激之情。这真的是一次千载难逢的自然事件，而您为帮助我们社区恢复所付出的辛勤劳动，实在难以用言语表达我们的感激)

 

As someone who walks the neighborhood daily, I was heartbroken to see so many trees marked with red ribbons for removal. These trees are not only a cherished part of Portland Place’s character and natural beauty, but they also contribute to our property values and the overall well-being of everyone who lives here.

 

(作为一位每天在社区散步的居民，我看到那么多树木被绑上红色丝带准备砍除，心中感到十分难过。这些树木不仅是 Portland Place 的社区特色与自然美景的重要组成部分，也关乎我们的房产价值以及所有居民的整体福祉)。

 

While I fully understand and support the removal of trees that pose a safety risk—especially those that are dying or severely damaged—I noticed that some trees, including one I photographed this morning, appear to still be healthy and potentially recoverable.

 

（我完全理解并支持移除那些存在安全隐患的树木——尤其是那些濒死或严重受损的树木。但我注意到，一些被标记的树木看上去依然健康，有可能得以恢复。我今天早上还拍了一棵这样的树）

This situation reminded me of the title of my college entrance essay, written over 40 years ago in China: "毁树容易，种树难," which translates to "Destroying a tree is easy; planting one is hard."

 

（这一情景让我想起四十多年前我在中国参加高考时写的作文题目：《毁树容易，种树难》）

 

The Chinese college entrance exam is famously rigorous, and that essay title still offers me wisdom today. It feels especially relevant now, as we face decisions that will shape the long-term landscape of our historic neighborhood.

 

（中国的高考以严格著称，而那篇作文题目的寓意至今仍给我启示。如今我们正面临将决定这个历史街区长远风貌的抉择，这句话显得尤为贴切）

 

I respectfully ask that the Trustees consider having a certified arborist or a qualified city planner carefully evaluate each tree marked for removal. If any can be saved without compromising safety, I hope they will be spared.

 

（我在此郑重建议理事会请有资质的树艺师或城市规划专家，对每一棵被标记准备砍除的树木进行仔细评估。如果有树木在不影响安全的前提下仍有可能保留，我希望它们能被留下）

 

Thank you again for your dedication and care for our community. (再次感谢您对我们社区的奉献与关爱)

 

古董社会是人杰地灵的地方，以前去世的邻居是心脏外科医生，还有老布什总统的表弟。我最近谷歌了直接邻居的德国姓氏，为勤劳的美国中西普通白人，但是他正担任着超过千人的公司CEO。他从不提起这些，只知道他以前经常飞中国做生意，还说起深圳市长接见之类的话题。

 

古董社区的董事们全是热心人士，他们都是完全以自愿者的身份服务社区，董事泰戈随即写来回邮：

“Thanks for this note （omitted name).  It's hard to look out the window every day at all the damaged trees, it's very heartbreaking.  The trees are a big part of what makes the neighborhood so special. 

 

（谢谢你的来信（省略姓名）。每天望向窗外看到那些受损的树木，真的很令人心碎。树木是这个社区如此特别的重要组成部分）

 

“We did walk the neighborhood with an arborist and tagged trees that he thought wouldn't recover or where there are safety concerns.  Some of the tagged trees along the edge of the greeway are being removed due to how they are breaking up the concrete and their potential failure mode- as we observed in the tornado there is very little root support under the street and sidewalks.  It's a shame so many were planted so close to the edge and we won't be doing that when we start restoring the greenway.  The arborist generally thought we should give the sweetgums a chance to come back, and he didn't think many of the oak trees that lost a large portion of their canopies would recover, which is very sad as they are such beautiful trees.

 

（我们确实曾和一位树艺师一起走访了社区，并对他认为无法恢复或存在安全隐患的树木进行了标记。绿化带边缘的一些树木被标记移除，是因为它们正在破坏混凝土结构，且存在倒塌风险 —— 正如我们在龙卷风中所观察到的，街道和人行道下的树根支撑非常薄弱。很可惜当初有那么多树被种在边缘地带，我们在今后的绿化带修复工作中将避免重蹈覆辙。树艺师总体认为甜口香树（sweetgums）应该有机会恢复，而那些失去大部分树冠的橡树可能难以存活，这真的很让人难过，因为它们是如此美丽的树种）

 

“We are trying to give every possible tree a chance, we certainly don't want our street to look like Wydown where they essentially did a clear cut.  We have the sprinkler system back on so hopefully that will help with greenway recovery as well.”

 

（我们正尽一切努力让每一棵树都有生还的机会，我们当然不希望我们的街道变得像 Wydown 那样几乎被一刀切式地清空。我们已经重新启用了喷灌系统，希望这也能帮助绿化带尽快恢复）

 

我回函对泰戈表示感谢，他的信息告诉我们，他们己经做出了所有的努力，我们也到了向这些可能树龄达百岁的大树说再见的时候了。

我们如何处理龙卷风所致的古董社区那些残留的巨大树桩？最近董事会己经找到合同公司，代价是向我们征收50万美元的额外费用。刨树根以前是从上面开始，现在似乎也可以从侧面逐层切，还是摇控的方式，看来美国什么领域都在技术革新。正如董事给我的邮件中所述，种在侧走道绿地的大树根很浅，因为四周均是水泥。它们根本经不起龙卷风的袭击，这也是那么多大树被连根拔起的原因。

晚上回来时看见锯的成果显著。