We Left – You Didn’t Need Us
Horror grips us as we watch you die
All we can do is echo your anguished cries
Stare as all human feelings die
We are leaving, you don’t need us.
Go, take your sister then by the hand
Lead her away from this foreign land
Far away, where we might laugh again
We are leaving, you don’t need us.
And it’s a fair wind, blowin’ warm
Out of the south over my shoulder
Guess, I’ll set a course and go. ~~~ Wooden Ships – Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (1969)
This huge old tree stump (photo above) is my beach shrine –
I try to get there every day, lean into its solidity, and leave a little decoration – a symbol of my reverence for this awesome place and what it used to be.
Its solidity grounds me.
And at times, I’m so filled with some strange awe, that I talk to it.
That song still rips me up; and seems ever more relevant today. The grief, frustration and resignation are inescapable.
Here's another verse also done (and written by) Jefferson Airplane, whose own version of Wooden Ships (co-authored with Paul Kantner) was quite haunting. This verse is from their song, "House at Pooneil Corners":
"Everything someday will be gone except silence
The earth will be quiet again
Seas from clouds will wash off the ashes of violence
Left as the memory of men
There will be no survivors, my friend
Suddenly everyone will look surprised
Stars spinning wheels in the skies
Sun is scrambled in their eyes
And circles like a vulture
Someone stood at the window and cried one tear
I thought that would stop the war, but someone is killing me..."
Hi. Met you over at Caitlin's substack. I've got 50 acres in the Appalachian Piedmont I'm trying to manage for wildlife habitat, as a carbon sink, to protect the aquifer, moderate temps, yada yada. I purposely chose land that floods seasonally, hoping that would keep development out. We've avoided fracking, injection wells, and development for the most part thus far. I have been asking foresters for years what I can do to best protect these woods re global warming. Have not gotten a serious answer yet. I fear eventually we'll get wildfires (too wet currently but the Canadian wildfire smoke socks us in if it's not raining). All my neighbors cut. Their attitude is the trees exist to pad their bank accounts. They understand very little about arboreal communities and how they work. So the bigger the tree, the sooner it goes. I have done some EQIP programs but quit in disgust at their focus on profitability, marketability, etc. Also they wanted me to spray glyphosate before seeding for pollinators in one overgrown pasture. Their alternative is to till. I refused to do either. Can you give me advice on how to manage these woods? About 43 acres is protected completely and I'm letting one pasture go back to woods. I've only had this land for 22 years. My barn is made of American Chestnut, build around 1790 so you can imagine how wimpy my woods look to me. Would appreciate any advice you have. Currently my management plan is to leave the woods alone. I go up there maybe 2-3 times a year. Poaching is a problem. And it's only 50 acres with some right-of-way cutting it up. They think they're bringing 5G antennas here, which is another headache. Over my dead body.