The Parable Series: The Pine Tree Parable Download
Princesa Landes
Bristlecone pines are said to be the oldest known living trees. They have many tricks that help them survive, like growing in twisted shapes at high altitude, and an adaptation called "sectored architecture". Sectored architecture means that the tree has roots that feed only the part of the tree directly above them. If one root dies, only the section of the tree above it dies, and the rest of the tree keeps living. You will often see bristlecone pines at high elevations with only one or two living sections, stripes of bark growing on an otherwise skeletal tree. Bristlecone pines can endure a lot.
In the summer of 1964, a geographer by the name of Donald R. Currey was doing research on ice age glaciology in the moraines of Wheeler Peak. He was granted permission from the United States Forest Service to take core samples from numerous bristlecone pines growing in a grove beneath Wheeler Peak, so he could try to find the age of the glacial features those trees were growing on top of. Currey was studying the different widths of the rings inside these bristlecone pines, which were believed to be over 4,000 years old, to determine patterns of good and bad growing seasons in the past. Because of their old age, these trees act as climatic vaults, storing thousands of years of weather data within their rings.This method of research is valuable to the study of climate change.
Currey found a tree in this grove he believed to be well over 4,000 years old. This tree was known by local mountaineers as Prometheus. There are several accounts of how Prometheus met its end. Some say Currey's increment borer, the tool used to take core samples, broke off in the tree. Others say he did not know how to core such a large tree, or that the borer was too short. Yet others say Currey felt he needed a full cross section to better examine the rings of the tree. We may never know the true story of what happened to Prometheus, but we do know one thing for certain: Currey had permission from the Forest Service to have the tree cut down. Counting the rings later revealed that Prometheus contained 4,862 growth rings. Due to the harsh conditions these trees grow in, it is likely that a growth ring did not form every year. Therefore, Prometheus was estimated to be 4,900 years old, the oldest known tree of its time. At the time, Prometheus was the oldest tree ever dated, the runner-up being a bristlecone pine in the White Mountains of California. It was only 4,847 years old. It wasn't until 2012 that an older tree was found - another bristlecone in the same area, proved to be 5,065 years old. There is a good chance there are older bristlecone pines that have not yet been dated.
According to ancient Greek myths, Prometheus was an immortal who brought fire (a symbol of knowledge) to humans. Prometheus the bristlecone pine also imparted a lot of knowledge to humans. Information gained by studying this significant tree added to the knowledge of carbon dating (which is valuable to archeologists and paleontologists) and climate data. Bristlecone pines are now protected on federal lands.
Share God's love and redemption with this beautiful fall story about a farmer who turns a simple pumpkin into a bright light that brings joy. This parable tale by bestselling author Liz Curtis Higgs will help your children understand how God makes us into new creations and calls us to share His light with all.
Sparrow went from tree to tree asking them to shelter him in the cold months. One by one they gave him excuses and refused to give him shelter. There was only one tree left, the lowly pine tree. So with no hope left Sparrow made his plea to the pinetree. Sparrow said "Pine I am injured and not able to fly south, would you let me shelter in your branches until my family returns?"
For my birthday I received two copper bracelets from my husband, one with a pine tree and one with a bird inscribed. Over dinner he told me the story. After being together for nearly 36 years, he is still as romantic and thoughtful as ever. I love the copper cuffs as the story of the love of living things and the importance of shared loved.
I heard this too and it so impressed me. I am 71 years old and never heard the story before and when I did it touched my heart. I live in SC where pine trees are plentiful, we complain about their needles or pines are cut for money, profit. I see them in a different light and have a huge respect for pines now.
When thinking about war, many of us rarely think about trees. Trees are placed into a category coupled with the birds and the sky; they are passive and neutral to war, not considered a weapon to enhance it. However, as Irus Braverman explores, when we paint a picture of trees using the brushes of settler colonialism and identity, we see how politics and nature are intertwined. When we tell the stories of the tree, we turn its physical form into something much more. Understanding collective memory as both a response to a shared event, and part of creating the event itself, Palestinians and Israelis have found very different meanings within the tree: the collective memory of the Israeli pine enrooted, at the expense of the Palestinian olive uprooted.
Leading up to the American Revolution, Great Britain relied heavily on its Royal Navy, and in order to build and maintain this huge fleet of ships, they needed trees. By the late 17th century, the British had nearly depleted their own timber resources, and so they began harvesting and exporting Eastern white pines from Colonial New England.
The tribes of the Iroquois League at one time were fighting with one another. There were fierce battles, but the people grew tired of the fighting. So they agreed to bury their weapons under a giant white pine tree. They believed that the weapons would be carried away by the under ground waters. So they sent the weapons off through the path of the roots. The weapons went in all four directions. After that, the tribes no longer fought. Instead, they formed the Iroquois League.
Just after starting home, lightning struck a tall pine tree on an island several hundred yards away. The explosive force generated by the lightning strike blew a large hole in the rock ledge next to the tree. A football-sized chunk of dirt was thrown onto the ice 150 yards away, and rocks up to 100 lbs were thrown onto the ice 50 to 60 feet away. At the time of the discharge, several of the group reported "fingers of lightning" or "rays of lightning" coming from the lake around them; however, Robert doesn't remember anything about the incident. As he rode on the back of one of the tote sleds, Robert was a part of one of those "fingers of lightning."
Ever seen a cross on top of a pine tree? No, not the wooden kind. Around Easter each spring, some species in certain regions start to develop shoots with a familiar shape. This sighting has led to a popular legend that pine trees "know" when it's Easter.
"If you look at the tops of the pine trees two weeks before [Easter], you will see the yellow shoots," the blog A Lighthouse recounts. "As the days get closer to Easter Sunday, the tallest shoot will branch off and form a cross. By the time Easter Sunday comes around, you will see that most of the pine trees will have small yellow crosses on all of the tallest shoots."
Ponderosa pine trees are one of the most ubiquitous conifer species in western North America, extending from southern British Columbia all the way down to northern Mexico. In the American Southwest, winter snowmelt and summer rains play a critical role in these forests' survival, but the 23-year megadrought may have these semi-arid trees at the end of their rope, according to new research by University of Arizona scientists.
Their HOA had already told them the very dead old pine had to go, so they settled on a price of $1,200, paid the guy a deposit, and closed the deal. The lawn guy then cut down the enormous dead pine tree.
The longleaf pine ecosystem is considered endangered globally, with less than 3% of the original 93 million acres remaining. Early published accounts show Weymouth Heights included in the old growth tract, however no studies have been conducted in the urban forest to learn the age of the trees, or ascertain habitat integrity. It is entirely possible that some of the longleaf pines found in the subdivision are among the worlds oldest, with trees documented in the adjoining nature preserve as old as 460 years. While tree preservation is encouraged by the town, there are no municipal ordinances governing the destruction of trees on private property. Threats to the site include fire suppression, logging and urban development. The lack of public awareness of the cultural and ecological value of the boxed pines might be the biggest factor in determining their future survival.
With the boxed pines of Weymouth spread across a large residential district with multiple property owners, raising public awareness of their existence would help to encourage property owners to preserve the trees for future generations. The Southern Pines Appearance Commission together with the Southern Pines Building and Grounds Department have launched a program to identify and recognize significant trees, giving awards based on such criteria as size, history, uniqueness or other qualities. Documentation and mapping is essential to raising awareness of these trees.
Update February 10, 2016: Since this article was written, an older tree was identified in the White Mountains, California. The tree is also a bristlecone pine and is thought to be over 5,000 years old.
The Good Spirit made the tall and beautiful trees, including the pines and hemlock. The Evil Spirit, to be contrary, stunted some trees or put gnarls and knots in their trunks. Other trees he covered in thorns or poisoned their fruit.
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