In Mourning

It was with some shock and sadness that Rebecca and I learned recently that the west-coast treeplanting behemoth that we worked for two summers ago is no longer in existence. SilvaRam Holdings, a company neither new nor small, has gone out of business this fall, citing financial reasons. Although I (Rodney) have few good things to say about my time in the depths of silvicultural hell, it did pay for the rock on Rebecca’s left hand, and I am left feeling a strange mixture of loss and regret. Like a veteran of war, or a survivor of some traumatic ordeal, there is a certain amount of bonding that takes place when you are stretched to your limits. Logic cannot completely explain why small armies of fresh young men and women make the yearly trek into the wilderness to expose themselves to that abusive lover that lurks deep in the deserted wasteland: the treeplanting trade. There is a curious mix of money, accomplishment, determination, competition, stubbornness and even growth (and I don’t mean the one on your foot) that drives the trade. It isn’t with surprise that I note that it has become more and more difficult for companies to recruit people to plant for them. I wonder if the planting business is slowly dying out? Well, one thing is for sure, Rebecca and mine surely did and I am not sure how to feel about it.