🚀 go-pugleaf

You make me want to puke!

Andrew K Fletcher wrote:

> The messenger
> In 1995 while driving home on a dual carriageway in Torquay, Devon, I saw
> what appeared to be an injured bird three cars ahead. The cars in front of
> me drove over the bird but did not hit it. Having pulled over and picked up
> a beautiful green and red male woodpecker, I put him on the passenger seat,
> ignoring the beeping horns of impatient drivers. Continuing home hoping that
> I would be in time to save this unfortunate chap, I looked into his eyes as
> they rolled back in his head as he gave his last breath. I held one hand on
> his motionless breast in the hope that he still had some signs of life.
> Saddened and angered I continued to drive.
> About four or five minutes later, I caught a glimpse, In the adjusted
> mirror, of what appeared to be a breath from the injured woodpecker, then to
> my astonishment he began to come around dragging himself over and placing
> his head on my lap, staring directly into my eyes. Jan, a friend who knows a
> bit about wounded animals, nursed him back to health and we eventually
> released him into a copse in the Westerland valley near Paignton in Devon. I
> still to this day hear a woodpecker in the copse and wander if it is the
> same chap that rested his head on my lap.
> The message was very clear that day and will stay with me forever and is the
> reason for the following offering.
>
> A Pocket Full Of Acorns
>
> Having recently been told the story of the old shepherd and a soldiers
> chance meeting in France, during the war, I would like the chance to share
> it with you.
>
> The soldier watched as the shepherd attended his sheep, and was curious as
> to his habit of dropping something into the soil and heeling it into the
> soft earth. He was in fact planting acorns as he tended his flock, and had
> been doing so for many years. As the soldier looked around him, he noticed
> that all the trees he could see were in fact oak, from mighty oaks to
> saplings. He later found that the old shepherd was entirely responsible for
> the creation of this magnificent oak forest and all it's inhabitants.
>
> One cannot help wandering why the human race does not see the wisdom in
> replanting the trees that we have squandered. "For man has no deeper or
> older debt than the one he owes to the tree.
> In addition to mans devastation natural disasters frequent the Earth, like
> the Dutch elm disease or the recent fires in Australia, Spain, Burma,
> Indonesia and the USA. Or floods, mudslides and storms-often amplified by
> the absence of trees wreak havoc as they level the last remaining remnants
> of once great woods and forests.  One such storm visited the UK one-day in
> 1987 and left a trail of destruction with the loss of over 19 million trees.
>
> How simple it would be to follow the wonderful example of the French
> shepherd and carry a forest in our pockets. Full of acorns, or cherry,
> chestnut, horse chestnut, maple, beech, hazel, apple, or any other kind of
> native tree seed we could turn this tide of destruction. Locating suitable
> sites, even in built up areas is very easy, gaining permission to create
> woodland takes time, but you will succeed if you are persistent.  Use the
> media to encourage landowners to join you and to invite people to bring and
> plant their seeds and saplings. Design and Display a "Pocket Full of Acorns"
> sign at the entrance to your site to indicate that this particular area is
> to be transformed into woodland or forest.
>
> Each time we visit the English moors to revel in the barren wastelands that
> we call our "National Parks?" We should remember that these were once great
> forests, teeming with life. Wild boar, bear, deer and wolf, to mention a few
> all roamed what was once great forest. Our ancestors whose epitaph lays in
> the stone remnants, littered all over these lands used fire in order to
> drive the animals out of the trees so they could be killed in comfort, with
> no regard for their actions or the future of our planet. Grasses were
> planted to feed domesticated animals and to make bread, spelling doom for
> all trees until the land became so impoverished man was forced to abandon
> it.
> Today in certain parts of the world like Indonesia this strange tradition is
> still implemented. But I wander how many of us realise that the moors are
> still moors because they are still burned in the same way. Perhaps not for
> the same reasons but with the same devastating results!
> Farmers in the UK are now forbidden to burn straw because of its affect on
> our environment. Sooner or later all burning must stop. I have recently
> visited Snake Pass in the Peak District, only to find dead and dying trees
> and vast areas of soil erosion.
> The native Australians like the ancient Egyptians have continued to burn
> their land and have succeeded in reducing almost all of their land to
> desert. When we realise just how simple it would be to take a pocket full of
> seeds, from a tree, with us on our day out and heel them into the soft
> earth, just like the old shepherd in France. I can't help wandering how long
> it would take to re-forest the barren hills instead of trampling the fragile
> earth with our designer walking boots.
>
> Christmas is coming and the goose is getting fat
>
> Soon we will be thinking of Christmas. The Christmas trees are already
> growing and will be ready for harvest, to adorn with decorations and take
> pride of place in our home for a few weeks. When the feasting is over they
> will be dumped in country lanes or tossed aside like the unwanted puppy.
> Why don�t we care for these trees that have been tended for so long?
> Purchased with their roots intact, placed in a pot and kept moist over
> Christmas they could easily be re-planted, so that in time we could visit
> our Christmases past with pride knowing that they will remain long after we
> have perished.
>
> THE MEDIA should now realise that this is quite within their grasp to make
> this happen. All it would take is a small announcement and who knows where
> it will lead us? It has been known for sometime that violence can be linked
> to the viewing of violence on t.v. There is nothing to say that the reverse
> will not happen when viewing hope on our screens.
> The press should also realise that in order to print future editions,
> guarantees must be fixed in place now to ensure that timber supplies are to
> be available into the next century. A commitment by Europe to replace it's
> forgotten forests may go a long way to show by example, the futility in the
> constant destruction of our environment. Or perhaps by replacing our own
> forests we may reduce the demands imposed on the last remaining tropical
> rainforest in the developing world.   "Please find it in your hearts to give
> it a try this year.
>
> The vision
>
> I can see school projects springing up everywhere around the World,
> cultivating saplings and organising school trips to the peoples new forest!
> In Britain we could visit the Dartmoor New peoples forest. Now that would be
> something to be proud of.
> Instead of a paper-chase, (a race where paper is left in a trail for others
> to follow), we could leave a trail of tree seeds and instead of picking up
> paper we could tread the seeds into the soil and leave a trail of trees
> behind us. Remember though, not everyone is interested in our environment,
> so be sure to gain permission before planting trees in sensitive areas.
> The human race (which incidentally is being lost), has an in-built fear of
> the forest and its darkness. Perhaps it is for this reason that we are
> reluctant to allow its natural regeneration? Or perhaps we still hold the
> miss-conception that greater profits are achieved by exporting live
> horseflesh. Or perhaps hunting down stags in plus fours and high-powered
> rifle is easier without the foliage for them to hide in?
>
> The last fifty years or so have left nothing but devastation for our
> environment. It need not be this way. All it will take is a little
> understanding that a few seeds will make our world a better place for all
> our children. It may yet even redeem us from going down in history as the
> most destructive species of all time.
> What can I do to help?
> First and foremost, the next time you see a native tree full of seeds grab a
> handful and give Mother Nature a helping hand. God knows she needs it now
> more than ever before, (try not to plant damaged seeds).
> You may edit and use this message to encourage the planting of trees. If you
> are from another part of the world, translate, edit and reproduce this
> message to suit your native species of trees. Or simply print it and
> photocopy it. Distribute it by including it in your web page, or Email it to
> everyone you write to.
> Ask your school to locate some land and plant a woodland reserve. Ask your
> local press, television and radio if they can help to locate land and spread
> the word.
> If you know of or are a member of an environmental organisation, contact
> them and ask them to join us. The first such group to join is Surf To Save
> in Cornwall.
> "A Pocket Full Of Acorns is limited only by your imagination and other than
> a few stamps and the odd photocopy will not cost you a penny. However if you
> do not wish to take part in this project, then simply recycle this leaflet
> by giving it to someone else, or pin it up on a school notice board, or
> place it in a shop window. Please don't throw our planet away, it could
> literally cost us the Earth!
>
> Initial endorsements by the Devon Tree Bank, The World Conservation Union,
> and the Forestry Commission.
> Andrew Fletcher, 26 Berry Drive, Paignton, Devon, TQ3 3QW.From the
> Originator of OASIS Irrigation.
>
> Please find it in your hearts to plant a few trees
>
> Forward this text and edit it to suit your countries needs. this message is
> free of all copyright,
> "Fly my little bird"
> --
> Visit our Naturesway Website at:
> http://www.naturesway.demon.co.uk
>
> Andrew K Fletcher (originator), feel free to delete my name and make this
> project your own.
>
> --
> Andrew K Fletcher
>
> --
> Andrew K Fletcher