Oak

In the gardens around my school grows a lot of oak trees. Many of them are hundreds of years old. One of the oldest of the ones in the area around Smedby, where the school is, was growing at the entrance of the school. Some eight years ago the tree lost some of its branches in an autumn storm so the commune decided to cut away dead branches and make the trees crown a bit smaller. Unfortunately they cut it too much and five years later the tree was dead. An old oak tree can have a thousand species living in it and being dependant on it so the loss for the environment is much greater than the loss of an old tree which in itself is very sad. Horticulturists say the tree would have had many more years to live, had it been cut by experts. The tree has been cut down more after it died to prevent accidents from falling bits and bark. Even a square piece of bark 40x40 cm is very heavy and Could really hurt someone if they got hit. 

The extra photo shows some of the bark from the huge oak you see in the background. The deeper the cracks in the bark is, the more species you find. This is because the cracks and the pattern in the bark creates a micro climate that some insects are completely dependant on. If the bark is damaged, the species dies or will have to move to a similar tree with exactly the same conditions. To me this gives perspective on the delicate balance in nature around us. Most of which we are not even aware.

When some of the bark fell from the tree that died, I took a piece of it home and now keeps it inside, stuck to a wall, to look at and to be amazed by its beauty but also to be reminded of decay and to make the best of my days here.