Two years ago, they cleared lots of live oak to make room for luxury apartments and a hotel right next to Cascades Park. I’ve gotten used to the changed skyline when I go there to walk. Yet, sometimes I’m still sad to see how quickly trees that took decades to grow can be wiped away and replaced with new construction. And it’s not just the trees that are gone, there were wildlife, insect, fungus, moss, and plant communities that all relied on those trees that are also gone.
The area was a massive hole for a few months. That's what’s necessary to make buildings like this, a big dead hole, a wound in the earth. What starts deep in the ground, eventually eats up part of the sky.
There’s a Nana Grizol song that says,
“It should be unlawful To live where you can't see the stars.”
I’m starting to agree. I don’t think I could live in a city any bigger than this. The light already drowns out too many of the stars.
