Telling Stories About Trees in Goshen
Naturalized Mid-American
By Aaron Sawatsky-Kingsley
Telling stories is the way we define who we are. Day by day, probably hour by hour, we are all involved in aspects of telling stories about ourselves, in our own interior dialogues. Day by day, and hour by hour, our news and social media outlets are also involved in telling the story of who we are, both individually and collectively. We use the things that we do actively, along with the people and things we are surrounded by, to help tell the story of who we are. We do this so that others will know what moves us, what drives us, what hurts us, and what heals us.
Like each one of us, our stories are complicated, and reflect a mixture of values – sometimes confusing and contradictory. The point of storytelling is to try to make sense of ambiguities and divergence, to find lines that are threaded through obscure moments and difficult times, which weave larger truths together. Its not always easy. And of course, our real-life stories are always in flux, so tying up episodes in neat little arcs can be tricky. But we sure do like it; it sure is satisfying to find patterns, to be surprised by a twist, to come to resolution, to look back and be able to understand how everything fits together. Movies, and books, and shows on TV (or wherever) hit the spot.
In the Maple City, I think trees are one of those through lines in our larger story. Admittedly, they are mostly in the background, an after thought, maybe even forgotten. This is because, in Goshen, trees are so ubiquitous – they are always around, on the horizon and right in front of us – and because of this we don’t usually pay attention to them. Even in my job, as the City Forester, I take most of the trees that I encounter in a day for granted, paying attention only to the few that need it. Nevertheless, thousands of trees are quietly living and growing with us, in our city, and are braided into our lives, into our stories.
We are forest people. That may be a surprising thing to hear or to suggest. But when I think about what happens in this soil – in this part of the earth, when left to its own devices – a background truth, a consistent through line is revealed: trees grow. Forest emerges. We see it and experience it here when mowing or gardening or farming or other kinds of intense management cease. We live in constant engagement with and connection to the forest around us (and below our feet), even if that connection is primarily the effort to keep it at bay. And some of us work extremely hard at keeping it at bay. Most of us, nearly all of us, allow some of it to enter our properties; most of us tolerate or even desire a tree or two or more at least around our homes. We benefit from them in many valuable ways (ways that no other thing can reproduce), even while they demand certain amounts of time and energy from us. We are forest people; we live where trees live.
While trees may not dominate the themes of our personal stories, or the kinds of stories we seek out, we do – most of us – have stories about trees that are important to us. That is, the stories are important and the trees in the stories are important. In a community like ours, where trees have been such a constant backdrop for the people living here, including long before the settling of Goshen, hearing these stories can tell us things about ourselves, about each other, about who we are. Trees and forests are so evocative – look at our fairytales, look at Bible stories, look at certain advertisements – and for us they have been significant characters in our lives. They shape the kind of community we are.
With this in mind, we want to invite you to come listen to and tell stories about trees. On Saturday, July 26, from 4:00-5:30 pm, we will gather under the large oak trees at the Rieth Interpretive Center to tell our stories to each other. Because there are so many forms of storytelling, we’ll also have art supplies available to communicate tree stories. Tree stories in various languages and forms are also welcome, including music and poetry. Bring your own lawn chairs or blankets to sit on.
A tree-planting grant opportunity through the Indiana University Environmental Resilience Institute is an important impetus for this storytelling event, recognizing that urban trees thrive in places where people care about them. Hearing our stories will be good for trees and good for us.
If you’d like more information about this event, please contact us at environmental@goshencity.com .
