Walking through the courtyard in front of the Irving K. Barber library tonight got me thinking. It is always quiet in the summer evenings, peaceful even. Yet I can never shake off the idea that there is something eerie about the way the trees are all planted in perfect rows. Perfectly aligned they remind me of students, or perhaps society. The way in which we are all cultivated to grow in a certain way, in the precise spot we were involuntarily placed. We can never truly escape our roots, they grip us, hold us down to the ground. They are our lifeline. Even if we try to grow as tall as can be, we are human and therefore bound by our humanity.
I wonder if the people who planted those trees ever thought much about the pattern that they were placed in? And what that pattern would represent to the students who trudge past them day by day. For one thing I know that I would really like to see a little tree in there, one that doesn’t follow the grid pattern. I don’t know why exactly I would like to see that little tree, but I think that it would signify hope. That no matter where you are planted, you can still live, breathe and grow. <3