A local Cottonwood has a story to tell (by Al Freeland)
Al Freeland standing by rescued Cotton Tree in Northfield, MN
We have been in town since 1981, but it was only in the last couple of years that I noticed the tree. By “the tree” I mean the giant cottonwood tree by the old metal bridge on Canada Ave., Northeast of Northfield. When the tree finally caught my eye I was totally amaze by the size of this “old man of the woods”. The base of the tree was hollowed out, but it still looked strong and not in danger of toppling.
When I would go out in the area to do some water monitoring for the Cannon River Watershed group, or to go fishing for monster catfish with my kids, or mushrooming I would brush by the tree and do what I often do to trees when I am alone in the woods (please promise you won’t tell anyone), I talk to them I pat them, or let their leaves or needles softly brush my hand, or feel the old, hardened bark that the years of sun, snow, and storms had wrinkled. I’m not quite sure if it because of reverence for the aging relics or some ancient druid throwback to “spirits in the oaks”, but I have always felt the life in these trees talk with me in some strange way. So for years, I talked with “the tree”.
Read More
