The Overstory: "What you make from a tree should be at least as miraculous as what you cut down."The trees around my house are undergoing a pruning this spring by a local arborist, so it’s no surprise that trees have been at the forefront of my mind the last few days. Of course, with baseball season in full swing, and the nature of this blog, I immediately connect the tree with the over 60 baseball bats that it can yield. But during my time with him, this arborist shared a deeper understanding and natural propensity towards the care and compassion for our leafy neighbors, with an enthusiasm that was contagious to say the least. It never ceases to amaze me when I run into someone so convinced of the life-giving qualities of one thing over another. But, when it comes to trees, I can’t help but agree, and be amazed at how much they have provided to us, beyond the baseball bat. Beyond their clear link to the quality of air, the regenerative quality of soil, the healing compounds in medicines, the nutrient richness of fruits, and their endless giving shade, I was amazed to find out that trees also provided the tools that are now incorrectly considered human inventions and make up the foundation of all technology: I’m talking about simple machines. There are six simple machines that are the building blocks for every technological tool we’ve ever developed. In baseball, the 5-tool-player is the player that you can put anywhere in the field, and they will thrive, for they have all the tools necessary to do the job under any circumstance (speed, throwing, fielding, hitting for average, and hitting for power). I now see the tree as a 6-tool-player, exemplifying their versatility and the six machines that advanced our society from the stone age to the latest innovations in technology. The simple machines are (1) the wheel (2) the inclined plane (3) the wedge (4) the lever (5) the screw and (6) the pulley.
As you take a tree and turn it on its side the wheel emerges. The roots of a tree naturally taper as they extend, creating an inclined plane which aids in anchoring and driving water to the correct location for absorption. The roots also extend out into various cracks and crevices and act as wedges, growing in, then out, to stabilize and penetrate stronger materials. Branches act as levers, helping the tree to support its weight and resist external forces like wind or the random climber. The trees also move and use tension distribution to sway in response to external forces, which can resemble the operation of a pulley system. In fact, I’ve used a tree branch as the point of support from which the force of a rope can be applied to lift large objects more simply. I was told by the arborist that with enough force pine branches can be ripped straight out of a trunk, and as you examine the result you find the tree branch is stabilized into the trunk in a spiral screw motion. It doesn’t surprise me that as we look harder, we find that we didn’t invent the tools that are used to construct the world, trees did. So, when you’re holding the bat, it’s all the more reason to respect the bat, for it came from a miracle. If you enjoyed this new meditation on the deeper meaning of the game, you’ll love THE ART OF WAR AND BASEBALL!! Check it out here: www.theartofwarandbaseball.com
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AuthorI will be posting more baseball meditations here over time. Archives
December 2024
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