A sad farewell. The role of nature in our lives.

This afternoon, as I returned from my daily exercise, I heard the screeching noise of chain saws. A team of tree cutters were felling a huge oak tree right in front of the church in the heart of Stellenbosch - one of the most famous landmark of our town.


We live among oak trees of which some are 200 years. To lose them is a disaster. I often walk past them and touch them, like one touches a picture of someone special who is not with you any more. These trees are also sick. They are not indigenous and therefore attacked by fungi. So we care for them and we see them go with deep sorrow.



As I was taking pictures, I appreciated the remaining trees. But I know that the small tree, planted next to the one which died today, will need decades and decades to take is place.


Here are some pictures:





















And then, as a small consolation, I saw the beautiful white flowers in the garden opposite the church. Looking at the white, I understood a bit more why white clothes are symbolic of the righteous.