Wednesday, February 23, 2011

old tree

OLD TREE













this old tree is in my friend from medical schools yard

(the one who helped me wheel the other student down the hall
in our ob rotation when she was asleep on a stretcher on our
way to the delivery room.      she woke up screaming
glad it was in the middle of the night)(also the one who went
on the infamous deliverance river trip at the end of our junior
year.    he was a bad influence)

this was taken on a cold day earlier this month when the
north wind was blowing and it was beginning to snow

i looked at this picture and decided it was a picture of what
it is like to get old or to get isolated

you are out there sometimes by yourself
you have developed a lot of physical changes as the tree has
with its gnarley (like that word) old broken limbs and the loss
of pine needles over the top (well some people retain their hair
as they get older and some dont)

if you are lucky you have relatives and friends close by to visit
you and communicate with you

since have been doing this blog and using email more and facebook
and twitter and now a blackberry crackberry cell phone have
realized that all this technology has been grasped by a lot of elderly
people or isolated people (confined caregivers, widows, widowers,
divorces, laid off workers, housewives, househusbands, etc)

this technology may be the thing that is bridging this isolation gap in
this group of people

this old tree represents these people
dont let some one you know let this happen to them
put them in a forest
communicate with them frequently personally with visits or with the
use of this new technology

TRASH
here is how long it takes things to decompose
paper-2-10 weeks
plastic bags-10-500 years
tin cans-50-100 years
disposable diapers-75-450 years
styrofoam-never

the organicgreen doctor

6 comments:

  1. Yes, the power of the internet and social networking. Great way to keep in touch with family and friends.

    Ed

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  2. The analogy with the tree is absolutely beautiful. You are a great writer, full of wit, yet able to convey compassion and insight. Lucky you, lucky your wife she, lucky everyone who knows you.

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  3. What a beautiful analogy doc. I bet old people (which I am fast becoming one... never saw it coming) LOL do feel like that old tree sometimes. I vow to always keep the ones I love in my "circle"... anyway I can and technology today does make it a lot easier. However, there is a down side to all this technology... it leaves us all a little vunerable to the weirdos out there so lets ALL be very careful too! Have a GREAT day. Kyla Jo

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  4. Love the beautiful picture! I like the analogy and the opportunity to ponder on that subject. Thought provoking. thank you.

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  5. Im that freakin tree! Now water is pouring from my eyes. Those are tears right doc? Dont worry you will always live in a dense forest.

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