Episode 27: American Chestnut

You are hiking on the Ridgeline Trail, along with Darryl and Kerri, who work together at the Land Trust. They have invited you along for a visit to a rare American Chestnut tree, which lives in the rugged forest on the very edge of town. As the three of you climb along the ridge, you take in the beauty of the autumn leaves, falling to the forest floor in a steady rain of bright reds and yellows. You smell the damp earth, fragrant from last night’s rain, and you feel the soil beneath your boots, taking footprints of you as you hike. You hear the crows in the trees above, supervising your progress, and you take a crisp breath.

Darryl asks you, “Have you done much hiking up here?”

You say, “Yes. I’ve been trying to get out on this trail as much as I can.”

Kerri says, “I always love when you get a glimpse of town through a break in the trees. And I love looking down on the greenhouses from here. It feels like the plants are talking to each other.”

You say, “It really does.”

The three of you turn off the main trail at a small building, constructed like a log cabin, with a covered pavilion on the back just large enough for a single picnic table. A charcoal grill stands just beyond the pavilion roof. A sign on the building reads, “Lucretia Mott College, Botanical Research.”

After a few minutes on the smaller trail, which slopes gently downhill on the far side of the ridge that cradles the town, you reach a clearing in the woods, where the lone American Chestnut tree stands surrounded by a circle of oak trees. There are hundreds of ferns growing on the forest floor, with wild mushrooms sprouting from fallen tree limbs nestled among the plants.

A voice calls out, “Hello, You!”

You say, “Dr. Skennen, is that you?”

An older woman appears on the far side of the chestnut tree, waving hello. She is carrying a clipboard and a 5-gallon bucket. She picks her way through the ferns, careful not to disturb them, and sets down the bucket as she offers her hand.

Dr. Skennen says, “It’s me. I’m very happy to see you up here, out of your office and away from your desk. Welcome to my office. Would you like to visit my very favorite tree?”

You say, “Yes, I’d love to.”

Looking past you, Dr. Skennen says to Darryl and Kerri, “Thanks for coming out again.”

Kerri replies, “We’ll never pass up a chance to visit you, or this place.”

Dr. Skennen says, “Come with me. I want to show you something cool.”

You turn your attention to matching the professor’s footsteps through the dense ground cover, placing your steps into her footprints. You notice the squirrels all around you, chattering with each other about their preparations for winter. You pause for a moment, looking up into the tree canopy that is revealing its network of branches with each falling leaf, and as you feel the muscles in your neck supporting your head, you take a centering breath.

When you arrive next to the tree, gently touching its rough bark, Dr. Skennen points toward the oak trees and tells you, “Look at the roots of the oaks, where they begin at the base of the tree. Each of them has major root structures pointing directly at this chestnut. They’re connected with each other underground. A family.”

She continues, “This forest used to be full of chestnut trees. Almost all of them were lost to a blight a century ago. This one lived, because she had a random genetic difference. But the rest of the forest also knows to protect her. She is a survivor, just like my own people. We are few now, but we have endured.”

You say, “Your own people?”

Dr. Skennen smiles at you and says, “I come from the Haudenosaunee, in upstate New York. There were Iroquoian people who lived here, the Massawomeck, but they were somewhat like distant cousins to us.” She rattles her bucket in her hand, which you notice is mostly full with chestnuts. She asks, “Would you like a little taste of the harvest?”

You say, “Yes, I would.”

The four of you head back to the ranger station, where Kerri sets about building a cooking fire in the charcoal grill. Dr. Skennen rolls up a metal door on the back wall of the station, revealing a small but well-equipped outdoor kitchen. You and Kerri work to roast the chestnuts on the fire, bringing batches of them over to the kitchen counter, where Dr. Skennen and Darryl are peeling them and dressing them with maple syrup and a dash of sea salt. The four of you sit down at the picnic table to share the bounty of the harvest.

Dr. Skennen bows her head a moment, and then recites from memory, “The Earth has many families of Trees who have their own instructions and uses. Some provide us with shelter and shade, others with fruit, beauty and other useful things. Many people of the world use a Tree as a symbol of peace and strength. With one mind, we greet and thank the Tree life.” 

Darryl and Kerri join her in saying, “Now our minds are one.” The group holds a shared silence for a moment, with the gentle breeze slipping through the pavilion, as you take a grateful breath.

You scoop the roasted chestnuts with a spoon, one at a time, out of a small bowl that Dr. Skennen has filled for you. Each one seems to taste better than the last. Darryl tells you, “This maple syrup was tapped last winter, right in this grove.”

You say, “Oh, that’s perfect.”

Dr. Skennen chimes in, “Since you work on events at the college, you should help us when it’s time to harvest the sugar bush. That will surely qualify as an event.”

You say, “I will be here.”