This gorgeous tree is a Red Oak, native to the northeast U.S. The trunk is 14 feet in diameter and the canopy well over 100 feet wide.
It's one of a handful of so-called heritage trees remaining in Seattle. It was planted in 1911 at the Hiawatha Playfield, designed by the Olmstead Brothers (of New York Central Park fame). The Red Oak is beautiful in every season, but turns a spectacular red and gold in the fall.
Seattle heritage trees like this Red Oak have been located and cataloged by "tree librarians" in a project called The Last 6,000.
I'm in my third season now walking past it almost daily. I'm reading Richard Powers' Pulitzer Prize winning novel, "The Overstory," and it's made me more aware of these miraculous large trees. The book is a dense story, weaving together detailed natural science with different fictional characters.
"The Overstory" theme is somewhat similar to his earlier book, "The Gold Bug Variations," that intertwines the discovery of the structure of DNA with the musicality of Bach. To say he is an "interesting writer" is an understatement.
As the dominate species with the highly developed brain, we are surprisingly ignorant of the intelligence that exists in all things, and makes complex life on earth possible.
I highly recommend "The Overstory" even though it isn't a quick, easy read. I find myself stopping often, just to savor the fine writing and his beautiful, intricate descriptions of the different tree species.
Remember this Chinese proverb?
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”
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