Some of those who hiked regularly through the
woods complained vociferously the summer the
red pines were cut down. That fall, complainers

would see each other around town, in coffee
shops, on the street, places other than the
trails and they would say to each other, “I’m

not going there anymore. They ruined the woods.
I’ll be long dead before it is beautiful again.”
It did look awful, in the modern understanding

not the original. Some said a bombed out, war
zone. The rationale given was that the trees
were not native to the area and would only

become diseased so they should be cut now to
salvage wood for commercial use with the pro-
ceeds going to the county parks. “Oh, sure,”

the former hikers said, “The parks will never
see that money.” The next spring the hikers
were back, the woods looked pretty good,

though different and nobody was talking about
the money. Two years later there were more
hikers than ever and the woods looked like they

were supposed to look, natural to the ecosystem
of the area just as was said. Sometimes things
work out, especially when it comes to nature.