For the first #ThickTrunkTuesday of 2024, I present these old #LiveOaks which are growing on the #LouisianaStateUniversity Parade Ground. I took these pictures on Sunday in #BatonRouge, #Louisiana. The trees here were reportedly planted from the 1030s-1970s, and have grown to impressive size. They host epiphytes: mosses, Resurrection Ferns, and Ball Moss (bromeliad). These trees are well cared for and even get custom built supports for their drooping branches as is visible in the second photo.

Louisiana has its ups and downs as a place to live, but one thing that’s unambiguously wonderful are our trees

Wanna see some live oaks?

A beautiful morning in beautiful #Savannah #ForsythPark #liveoaks #spanishmoss #Pixel7Pro

Two years ago, they cleared lots of live oak to make room for luxury apartments and a hotel right next to Cascades Park. I’ve gotten used to the changed skyline when I go there to walk. Yet, sometimes I’m still sad to see how quickly trees that took decades to grow can be wiped away and replaced with new construction. And it’s not just the trees that are gone, there were wildlife, insect, fungus, moss, and plant communities that all relied on those trees that are also gone.

The area was a massive hole for a few months. That's what’s necessary to make buildings like this, a big dead hole, a wound in the earth. What starts deep in the ground, eventually eats up part of the sky.

There’s a Nana Grizol song that says,

“It should be unlawful
To live where you can't see the stars.”

I’m starting to agree. I don’t think I could live in a city any bigger than this. The light already drowns out too many of the stars.