RonnieAdventure #0034 – Pearl Street, Boulder, Colorado

During the holiday season I visited Pearl Street in Boulder, Colorado, with all of the quaint little shops decorated for Christmas and owned by interesting people. While in one shop, I started visiting with the shop owner and I happened to mention that the Christmas lights decorating the trees along the walking mall were very beautiful. She gave me a puzzled look and explained that the lights were not “decorations,” they were “tree warmers.” I must have looked puzzled, because she explained that trees are very fragile and they need tender, loving care to survive. She went on to explain that the reason people all along the mall were hugging trees is because the temperature was below freezing that evening and the people were afraid that the trees might get cold and die. Apparently, early in the fall there was a sheet posted at the old Court House where one could sign up for half-hour blocks of time to hug a tree all night, but this year there were so many applicants that wanted a time slot, all of the spots for the entire winter were filled within the first few hours of the posting. Next year, to have more equality, they plan to have a lottery to give more people a chance to get a time slot. (It should be noted that not everyone in Boulder is eligible to sign up for these openings or enter the lottery next year. To be eligible, applicants must have demonstrated previous tree hugging experience or have a PhD in Tree Hugging from CU or UC Berkeley.)

Because of my lack of knowledge about tree hugging, the woman must have suspected that I wasn’t a local and asked me where I was from. When I said “Nevada,” she gasped and asked how we managed to survive in such a hostile environment with no trees. She said that her family had never been to Nevada because they were afraid that without trees, there would be a lack of oxygen and they wouldn’t be able to breathe. I said that it wasn’t any different than in South Dakota where I grew up. However, I explained that when I lived in South Dakota we had tumble weeds that grew to be the size of trees. As a matter of fact, the tumbleweeds along the farm fences were so large that we had to cut them down with an ax. She looked a little skeptical, but continued the conversation by asking if we had ever tried planting any trees to produce more oxygen. I told her that one time when I was a kid I did plant a tree, but my brother thought that it was a tumbleweed and drove over it with a tractor. She said that was the saddest story she had ever heard and then burst into tears and started sobbing!

As I started to leave, she said that she had enjoyed our visit and she could see in my eyes that I was a kind person and would make an excellent tree hugger. She then told me that her family was part of the Chipko Movement and planned to attend the annual convention to be held in the Garhwal Himalayas of Uttarakhand next summer. She said that tree huggers from all over the world would be there and I should bring my family and attend the conference. I burst into tears and started sobbing!