Kent 360 - Kent, Ohio | Blog of Dave Ruller, Kent City Manager

Keeping Kids Safe

June 21, 2006 by dave

Keeping Kids Safe

In the last 10 years there’s been new legislation passed that makes it possible for people to find out if there is a sex offender living in their neighborhood. The sex offender registries list the names and addresses of people who have been convicted of a range of sexual misconduct and offenses. The idea combines the “right to know” with the neighborhood watch concept to help keep kids (and adults) as safe as possible from sex crimes. I’ve been asked about sex offenders in Kent and I decided to do a little research. Read on to see what I found.

For obvious reasons, the mere mention of sex offenders will get people’s attention in a hurry, so finding out that there’s one living down the block can be quite alarming. Whether you have kids or not, this is a very troubling topic that can leave anyone feeling vulnerable for themselves and those they love.

The availability of the sex offender registries on the Internet (in Ohio) definitely raised the awareness of the general public to the problem. And that’s a good thing. We need to have access to that kind of information so that we can be smart, take precautions and be alert. But it also seems that the registries can create a lot of fear which was certainly not the intention but has been an all too common reaction. And I’m not sure fear is a good thing in this case.

[Click here to see What the Law Says]

Clearly, ignorance is not bliss when it comes to criminal presence, but based on some of the emotional reactions that result from discovering the criminal history of your neighbor I think it’s equally important to understand the big picture. I’m no expert but I’m good about doing my homework and learning from the experts. Here’s some of the important things that I learned that help frame the whole discussion of sex offenses. These points may not alleviate all your concerns but I do think they help us understand the risk involved in a more meaningful way.

1. Sex Offenders are All Around — just because the lists are now public and you’re able to know who has been convicted of sex offenses, doesn’t mean that you’re any more at risk than you were before the list. The fact is 80% of us have a sex offender living within 1 mile of our home. It’s that prevalent. 80% is a big number so it’s a mistake to think that one neighborhood is necessarily any worse than any other. The research suggests that the problem crosses socio-economic borders. It happens everywhere.

2. The Offenders are Usually Family and Friends — it’s sad to say but the Justice Department reports that 90% of the offenders are friends or family of the victim. Random strangers rarely commit these crimes. So you or a family member are at a much greater risk from those close to you than from an unknown offender living somewhere in your neighborhood.

3. Kids Hurting Kids — I was surprised to see that over 50% of the juvenile offenses are kids hurting other kids. So yes, tell your kids to be cautious of strangers, but don’t overlook what kids can do to other kids.

4. Repeat Offenses — The Justice Department reports that recidivism rates for sex offenders is below that for other crimes. The data is not perfect but it seems to suggest that treatment can work for most offenders.
With some of that basic information in hand I wanted to better understand how prevalent sex offenders were in our community so I did some more searching and compiling of the data. I came up with the following chart showing the number of registered offenders in Kent versus some of our regional peer cities. The numbers I calculated come straight from the US Census Bureau population figures and the sex offender registries — all I did was divide the numbers.

In reviewing the regional numbers, Kent appears to be in lower tier of the chart, which is exactly where you’d want to be. Still, it’s important to remember that this problem is everywhere so don’t feel too complacent with Kent’s relative ranking but likewise we can’t live our lives in fear and if these numbers help reduce that fear somewhat then that’s a good thing.

Jammin’ on the Dam

June 20, 2006 by dave

Jammin’ on the Dam

Months ago I was quoted in the newspaper wishing Kent had its own version of Cuyahoga Falls’ “Rockin’ on the River” and I even went so far as to suggest calling it “Jammin’ on the Dam.” Thanks to my position as City Manager, my ideas often make it in the newspaper but I generally don’t get too much feedback on them (which is usuallly a good thing) but that was not the case with the Jammin’ on the Dam remark. That one sentence led more people to pull me aside than any other issue I’ve ever raised. People cheered me on and wanted to know how they could help. I was surprised and intrigued.

To be honest, at that point I had not had a chance to actually attend a Rockin’ on the River event (I’d only heard about it through word of mouth) and the whole Jammin’ on the Dam name came from a city firefighter that had great memories of Kent’s musical legacy and told me to get busy recapturing Kent’s position as “THE” spot to go for live music. I heard this same sentiment many times over wherever I went in Kent after that article was printed.

So in the spirit of making sacrifices for my job, I did my homework and went out in Kent’s downtown a couple of times to see what musical entertainment we had and compared that with my first actual visit to Cuyahoga Falls’ River event. I’m glad I had a chance to visit both because before I went to Rockin’ on the River the practical side of my brain was thinking that there was no need to reinvent the wheel, let’s just take their model and copy it. But now that I’ve seen it firsthand I realize that we have a chance to offer something different that can be unmistakably Kent.

As much as I enjoyed the Rockin’ on the River venue, it became obvious to me that the scale was not Kent-like. First off, Cuyahoga Falls is double the size of Kent and I’d guess that the success of the event through the years has caused it to grow bigger and bigger which is great for two reasons: 1) because we need places nearby that provide medium to large venues; and 2)it leaves the door open for more intimate venues to complement it — which is exactly Kent’s niche.

From the Kent Stage to Woodsy’s, Kent is all about a very personalized music scene. By contrast, the layout of the vending plaza and the location of the band (tucked out of site in a sunken bunker) at Rockin’ on the River left me feeling disconnected from the music but all too connected with the lines of people waiting along with me to buy some food. Afterwords I realized that I never had a chance to get close enough to see the band and the design of the amphitheater seemed to not be great for accoustics. And other than the advertised title, I never saw the river and it didn’t really seem to be all that relevant to the music or the event.

Don’t get me wrong, we had a lot of fun. I’m thrilled to have Rockin’ on the River so close by and we’d definitely go back. My kids played in the fountains, we strolled, ate, drank and were generally quite merry. I guess I was also encouraged because from all the hype I couldn’t imagine ever competing with the Rockin’ on the River event. And now I realize we don’t have to compete, we can complement. We will not beat Cuyahoga Falls at it’s own game, but we can offer an alternative music scene in Kent that is more personal and intimate. Kent seems all about being alternative so once again, I think we’ve got a potentially great fit, with a great start downtown; at this point it’s just a matter of doing it right.

Kent has a more intimate sensibility to it with it’s existing music venues being smaller with a more laid-back groove. Kent’s river plays a very real role with the landmark Dam. Put all this together and I think we could do something special that is true blue Kent. I’m not sure how all the pieces will need to be arranged but I’m hoping we can start experimenting with some different uses in and around the Dam to figure it out.

To me, Kent’s music scene can be more of a genuine music experience, with food vending second. Too often at large venues I have a sense that they are so commercialized that it feels like a vending experience with the music secondary. Again, it’s that Kent experience that separates us from so many of our neighbors. In a round-about way, our lack of flagrant commercial success distinguishes us and while we need to leverage some more commercial activity out of what we’ve got, it will be important to not do it at the expense of the Kent heritage.

You can join in the action — maybe not on the Dam but not far from it, on Friday June 30th in downtown Kent starting at 5pm. That night the Standing Rock Cultural Arts Gallery and the Downtown Innovative Community Events (DICE) are sponsoring “Festive Friday” at the Home Savings Plaza which will include live music followed by an outdoor movie. The June 30th movie is scheduled to start at 9 pm and will feature “The Princess Bride.” The Plaza is small enough to actually see and here the music so don’t miss it.

Of course economics is part of the equation but I consider it a by-product not the product. If you have doubts about the power of music on the economy read the Role of Music in the Austin Economy Report or check out this Link to the Arts and Economic Development Report .

The data speaks for itself.

More Middlebury Road Bridge Discussion

June 19, 2006 by dave

More Middlebury Road Bridge Discussion

As we continue to work with CSX to finalize a settlement on the lawsuit that would allow the city to install the new bridge, I’ve received a couple of notes from concerned residents about the prospect of increased traffic on Middlebury Road once the bridge is replaced. Obviously while the bridge has been out of service the traffic has been quiet but when the bridge is replaced it will definitely resume and I can understand the concerns of residents that live along Middlebury Road.

As a former Transportation Director I am all too familiar with the tension that occurs along roads that have residential properties but serve as collector streets. Middlebury Road is a great example of this dilemma. (For more information on street classification click here).

Even in the world of traffic calming, where efforts are made to better protect residential neighborhoods, most communities limit traffic calming measures to streets that carry less than 4,000 vehicles per day. Middlebury Road carries 5,000 vehicles per day which puts it very clearly in the role of a collector street, which means it was designed to move traffic. Now that’s hard to hear of you live on a street like that but it’s an important piece of information when it comes to considering the overall problem.

I’ve yet to find an easy fix for this dilemma but Gene Roberts, Kent’s Service Director, offers an excellent summary specific to Middlebury Road.

First, a resident’s concern:
I have recently read about the developments on the Middlebury Rd. bridge project and would like to express my thoughts as a resident of Middlebury Rd.

First, not everyone is upset that the bridge is closed. I realize that a new bridge is inevitable, but I would implore you to reconsider what type of bridge is to be put in on Middlebury Rd. is not a thoroughfare, nor should it be considered a “feeder” road into Kent. That’s the purpose of St. Rt. 59, 261 Bypass, and St. Rt. 43. According to the Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study, 2,760 cars currently use the Middlebury Rd. daily (a 30% reduction) and that’s without the bridge! What will become of Middlebury Rd. if you continue your current course of action to put in a two-lane, truck-rated bridge? I cringe to think how much more traffic will barrel down our residential street speeding, running stop signs and ruining the road in the name of shaving off a few minutes. Since the bridge will eventually be put in, I would suggest it remain a one-lane bridge that allows only car traffic. This would be a viable solution for the residents. First, it would appease those folks who want to see the bridge re-opened and secondly, it would keep big trucks off our residential streets. This appears to be a win-win solution, without adding undue financial burden or stress on the residents who have to live along Middlebury.

Secondly, I found it interesting that City Council is looking into a city-wide trash pickup service since they feel there is too much truck traffic on residential streets. Yet, this same Council is not worried about truck traffic on Middlebury Rd ? Clearly, this is a conflict. How can you state that you are worried about truck traffic on residential streets, yet totally ignore those same needs of Middlebury Rd? In a recent Akron Beacon Journal article, a council person said, “How do you make the railroad see that they’re not being good neighbors?” My question to those addressed above is: How are you being good neighbors by insisting on replacing the one-lane bridge with a two-lane, truck-rated bridge? If your concern about truck traffic on residential streets is genuine, it will also be a genuine concern for Middlebury Rd. residents. Posting “No Trucks” signs would be a farce, kind of like the “optional” stop sign at Janet Drive and Middlebury. We need real solutions that will work long-term.

I thank you for your time and would appreciate any feedback Council or city government officials could offer on this problem. Please consider the best options for ALL of Kent‘s residents.

Second, Gene’s Reply:
Thank you for your email of June 12, 2006. The Middlebury Road Bridge over the CSXT railroad tracks has caused a great deal of concern for most if not all of the residents in your neighborhood and additionally I have heard from those from outside of your neighborhood.

Your concern regarding increased traffic when the bridge opens is understandable. The traffic that is anticipated to return on I worked on this project starting in July 2003 and I have reviewed the information assembled prior to my involvement. I found where you expressed your concern regarding the one-lane bridge replacement as a two-lane bridge during the public meetings held prior to the new bridge design. The results of the resident concerns were presented at a meeting of Kent City Council. In considering this matter I believe Council took into account the information gathered by City staff as well as information received directly by Council members during discussion with individual residents. It is reported that most of the residents that talked with Council members directly were in favor of the bridge at a ratio of 9 to 1.

Reviewing the Council meeting minutes I believe your general increased traffic and specifically the additional truck traffic concerns were heard by council. The motion to proceed with construction of a two-lane bridge also includes instructions to staff to sign the bridge to allow for local truck traffic only and to include traffic calming on Middlebury Road as part of the project.

Middlebury Road has been a “thoroughfare” for a couple centuries. Middlebury was given its name because the road ran from Kent (then Franklin Village) to the village of Middlebury that is located at the current site of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in Akron. In reviewing old documents I believe the roadway in Akron named Goodyear Boulevard Kent. The reason I provide you with the history of Middlebury is to explain that Middlebury was truly a major thoroughfare that overtime was down graded by the later construction of SR261.

Your reference to AMATS regarding the current traffic counts (with the bridge closed) is accurate. However, I must also point out the AMATS recognizes Middlebury Road as Minor Arterial street. The designation of a Minor Arterial does provide the City with the ability in the future to request and if available receive funding for future repair of the bridge. Additionally the fact that Middlebury Road is designated as a Minor Arterial also requires that the City build the new bridge to current design standards in order to be eligible for any future funding. The current design standards for a bridge on a Minor Arterial are a minimum of two lanes.

Please do not miss understand me in anyway as saying the City does not care about the residents living near or on Middlebury Road. Kent City Council has given clear direction to minimize the impact of the new bridge and the Engineering Division is currently following that direction. Engineering is looking at ways to place traffic calming along Middlebury Road to slow traffic. The new bridge will be signed allowing only local truck traffic.

I know that this response is not what you were hoping for in the form of a one-lane bridge but equally I want to say that the City is committed to do all with in its power to minimize the new two-lane bridge impact on the Middlebury Road residents.

Mountain Bike Mania

June 17, 2006 by dave

Mountain Bike Mania

So far in my blog I’ve worked hard to be objective and not allow too many personal prejudices bias my view on the Kent360 perspective. But today, that’s going out the window. Today I’m climbing on my soapbox and shamelessly promoting mountain biking. I’ll try to argue that it’s one of the nation’s fastest growing sports so it’s a great economic development opportunity. I’ll argue university cities always have great bike shops and plenty of trails nearby which is good for university enrollment and good for city retail.

I’ll argue that mountain bike riders are actually successful, type A personality types, who continually push their capabilities and take risks, and when they take their helmets off we call those people entrepreneurs — which we need more of. I’ll argue that mountain bikers are practicing environmentalists who appreciate natural resources and are committed to volunteering their time to protect and preserve it.

I’ll argue that mountain bikers travel in packs and spread the word about trails in guerilla marketing style creating great buzz which is what I call promoting eco-toursim. I’ll argue that mountain bikes are not cheap and riders spend serious cash on their gear, food, gas, maps, etc. to do what they love and that means more dollars in our local economy. I’ll argue those things and more but in the spirit of full disclosure I admit that I can’t be very objective on this one, I’m a bike-aholic.

I didn’t grow up bouncing off railings and benches riding those trick class BMX bikes. Sure, I had the typical banana seat Schwin bike as a kid that I rode around the neighborhood and that evolved into a series of ten speeds but trail riding was never in the mix. We moved to Washington DC and I did some road biking and paved trails, but again, I still hadn’t tapped into any off road trail stuff. Then we moved to Tennessee and I figured when in Rome, be like the Romans — and that mean’t riding through the peaks and hollows of northeast Tennesse, southwest Virginia and western Carolina. Being a novice I had no idea that this part of the country was considered by many to be mountain bike heaven but I soon discovered that on my own.

After the first heart rate busting climb and white knucled heart racing descent I was hooked. As a newcomer I stayed away from the real technical stuff, e.g., log rolls, rock jumps, because I found out quickly (and painfully) that there’s more to this sport than a good set of lungs; it takes great skill and frankly courage to take these bikes where they go. But the connection between man, bike, trail and nature was unbeatable, and to be honest it’s the only place I can go to clear my mind from all the troubles of a city manager because I learned the hard way that if you’re not focused on the task at hand in the woods, mother nature (as beautiful as she is) can be merciless and I’ve left shreds of body parts along trails all over northeast Tennessee (including a piece of my eye, nasty stuff that gives a whole new meaning to being one with nature).

Being late to this sport (I was 35 when I started) I’m still shaky on a lot of the technical trails but I’m still out there as often as I can learning how to safely traverse swithcbacks, roots, creek crossings and rock ledges. Besides a great workout I find that a lot of solutions to my work problems reveal themselves while my mind is focused elsewhere and trail metaphors abound, e.g., don’t let your wheels get stuck in ruts, don’t overgrip the handlebars, stand more than you sit, and don’t get distracted by the flies, that help me see what I need to do at work.

When we moved to northeast Ohio I was worried about finding comparable trails but I’ve been pleasantly surprised. The hill climbs are not as high and the downhill sections don’t last as long but the natural beauty and technical challenges stand up to anything I’ve been on. The Cleveland Area Mountain Bike Association has done a great job in our region. They’re actually a group that doesn’t just talk about regionalism they practice it. CAMBA advocates, builds and maintains trails as far south as Portage County. They’ve partnered with State Parks folks to create sustainable trails that are enjoyed by all levels of riders. West Branch State Park has really great trails and if you can’t reach me in the office you’ll probably find me banging around the trails and practicing my own version of tree hugging.

So what does all this have to do with Kent? A lot more than meets the eye.
Kent’s economy is in transition. We’ve lost a lot of our old manufacturing base and by default we’ve become increasingly reliant on Kent State University as our economic benefactor. That’s fine but I think it’s time we shift from a passive strategy of default to an aggressive strategy by choice to leverage the full economic potential of the university for community (and university) gain. To me that subtle difference means finding those business niches that thrive around large universities and going after them at full speed.

Outdoor activities, like mountain biking or kayaking, are great opportunities to grow the small business base which is so important to Kent’s hometown charm and market profile. We’re not a big box retail Stow look a like, we’re more “small business-ish” and many of the stores and support services for these outdoor activities are small business establishments that can compete in specialized markets that businesses like WalMart have not chosen to get into. A good example of this is Century Cycles which has small successful bike shops in Solon, Medina and Peninsula. We need one in Kent and we could probably get one if we did a better job cultivating our local bike scene.

Consider a few statistics:
60% of the general population participates in outdoor activities, like biking, hiking and kayaking.
Nearly half (45%) consider themselves avid enthusiasts.
Enthusiasts spend more money at specialty outdoor stores than in any other retail stores
The average age of participants is 39 but all age groups are represented.
Participants have a higher household income than the general population.
64% are college graduates.
Bicycling is the most participated in sport.
Participants spend an average of $780 on gear for their sport.
25% took a sports travel trip last year.
In last 5 years sports related travel is up 14%.
Participation in single track Mountain Biking is up 113% over last 5 years.
[read the full report]

In addition to the potential economic value, consider that Kent’s natural resources, e.g., the river, the bog, and it’s trail network linking to regional resources, e.g., Cuyahoga Valley, State Parks, are consistently rated at the top of the region’s assets. So the availability of outdoor resouces is a highly valued quality of life component to Kent’s residents.

Sports and eco-tourism holds great promise to bring new dollars into the Kent economy, we just have to figure out how to capture it. Every university city I’ve been in has had a couple of bike stores and trails nearby to choose from. The University of Virginia and East Tennessee State had their own trails on university grounds that were open to the public and were quite challenging. I’ve mentioned this to Kent State informally but I’d like to pursue it more actively in the year to come. And not just because I love it, I actually think it has genuine economic and quality of life benefits for Kent.

Father’s Day Weekend

June 15, 2006 by dave

Father’s Day Weekend

As “dad” I try to teach my children as much as I can about the important things in life. When they’re little this task is exhausting, but fairly straightforward; ‘take that out of your mouth’, ‘it’s not nice to hit people’, ‘you have to share’, ‘everyone takes a bath’ and so on. It’s as they get a little older that exhaustion gives way to hysteria and parenting gets a lot more complicated.

For example, I have always told my children to tell the truth and not make up stories. This was a principle that I was certain could be found in any good parenting book. But I have discovered that my presumption that truth and tales are mutually exclusive doesn’t fit so neatly with real life. Indeed, my children have taught me that it’s not always clear where the truth ends and a tale begins. And how do you explain to a child how today’s truth may prove to be tomorrow’s tale?

Confronted with this paradox, it dawned on me that the real test of “dad-hood” came down to finding meaningful answers to tough questions about life, while balancing on the fine line between the truth and a tale. As I have been walking this line for 11 years now, I realize that my children have clearly preferred the song of a tale to the edicts of truth. And the more I listened to the music of our tales, the more I began to understand why.

Like the wind that fills a sail, tales fill truth with meaning and help bring it to life. It was my son who helped me realize that truth and tales are actually two sides of the same coin, standing back-to-back, holding each other upright. It’s just that with their backs together, neither one can see how important the other one is.

This is a story of how a tale shared between my son and I 8 years ago helps me remember that truths written on chalkboards or preached in hallowed halls are just words; signposts pointing us in one direction or another. If we’re smart enough, or young enough at heart, we remember the messages of our tales and we carry their spirit with us on our journey to experience the mysteries of life. Before my kids came along I had become so good at spotting tales in truth that I had forgotten how to see the truth in tales. My son got me back on the right path one early summer afternoon in 1998 as we weaved a tale of trees and bugs, and along the way we learned a little something about growing up.

The Trunk and Its Tale
One summer afternoon, as my son (then 3 years old) and I chased each other through the hidden passage-ways of a row of evergreens, we stumbled upon a tree that had a rubber and wire “branch” parting its trunk like a lost arrow. I listened as my son wondered aloud about the possible adventures that could have led the tree to grow such a branch.

“Hey daddy, how did the tree eat this hose and wire?”
I smiled to buy some time but the look on my son’s face reminded me that three year-olds are on a very tight time schedule. So I knelt down, face to face to trunk, and explained that trees don’t eat hoses or wire. I said that the rubber hose and wire were put around the tree a long time ago to hold it up, but apparently the tree had grown so much that it broke the wire and eventually the bark grew right around the hose.

The look on my son’s face stated in no uncertain terms that my answer had failed to live up to his expectations for such an unusual sighting. What I had said was true, but my son had hoped for something more. There had to be a story in there somewhere. Empowered by the moment, we left the truth behind and set out on a journey that would live up to the possibilities of a hose-chewing, wire-eating monster of a tree.

I tried again and this time, I knelt close to my son and whispered (so as to not wake the tree) that a long time ago trees would eat hoses because they thought they were giant tree worms. My son nodded and smiled anxiously as I explained how giant tree worms could wrap themselves around a tree and squeeze them until they could hardly breathe. Then, the worms would spin a web around the tree so that it could never escape. The tree was usually too weak to break out and after a while it would just give up and stay trapped forever.

“Wow. Wait a minute, this wasn’t a worm, it was a hose.”
I know, but this tree must have thought that it was a worm, and in a panic ate it. The tree can laugh about it now, but at the time it must have taken a lot of courage to stand up to such a giant worm. It takes a lot to face our fears, and this tree shows how silly our fears can turn out to be once we face them head-on (or eat them).

“But when the tree bit into the hose and found out it wasn’t a worm, how come it didn’t just spit it out?”
The tree ate the hose out of fear, but now it keeps the it close to its heart so it can remember how far it has come and what it took to get there. The tree wears the hose like a badge of bravery. This way it will never forget that sometimes it takes courage to grow up.

“But how can a hose teach a tree to be brave?”
You see when trees are little, its parents try to do their best to take good care of them and make sure that they are safe so that they can grow up to be big and strong. To do this, sometimes they need to wrap them up in things, like rubber hose or strips of cloth.

“Does it keep them warm?”
“Well, not exactly warm from the cold, but it does make them feel warm inside knowing that someone loves them so much and will always be with them.

“What about the wire?”
“Once the tree is good and wrapped up, the wire is used to give the little tree something to hang on to, even in the worst storms.”

“Does it hurt the tree?”
“Maybe a little bit. But they’re little hurts, and little hurts make sure no big hurts happen.

“How?”
Well, when the wind blows really hard, the wire may hurt a little as it tightens around the trunk. These are little hurts. Now if the wire wasn’t there, there wouldn’t be any little hurts, but if the wind blew really hard, the tree might break and that would hurt a lot.

“But why does it have to hurt at all?”
Just because something hurts doesn’t mean it’s bad. The little hurts actually teach the tree about growing up. You see, there are things in life that the tree can’t control like whether it will be sunny and warm or windy and cold. When it’s sunny and warm, the tree is happy and can grow a lot. But when it’s windy and cold, the tree may be sad and even a little bit scared, so it’s afraid to do much growing. But just because the tree can’t control these things, it can’t stop living; it has to change with the world around it.

“Brrrrr, I don’t like cold days.”
Even though the cold doesn’t feel so good, it helps the tree learn about growing up. It’s the cold days that teach the tree what things are good for growing and what things aren’t. Think of it this way, when a tree wakes up on a cold day it says, “My branches are shivering, my leaves are stiff and my bark is frozen. Nope, it’s too cold to try to grow today. I’ll just save my strength for the next warm and sunny day.” And when it wakes up on a warm sunny day, it looks around and says, “Birds chirping, sunny skies, warm temperatures, Hurray! I can grow a lot today!”

“I like sunny days!”
But see, if it was sunny every day, the tree would get lazy about growing. It might figure, “I can grow any day, so I’ll just take it easy today.” Pretty soon, the tree takes it easy so much that it forgets about growing. And without any cold and windy days there is nothing to remind the tree how special the warm days are. So the tree takes everything for granted, until all of sudden, the tree isn’t even happy on warm sunny days.

“No way.”
Yep, that’s why it is important to have both warm and cold days. It’s the cold days that make warm days feel warm. So on really cold days, the tree should be happy knowing that the colder it gets today, the warmer it will feel tomorrow. And the warmer it feels tomorrow, the more it can grow!

“But if it hurts to grow, even just little hurts, why does the tree grow at all?”
From the time it was born, the tree had everything it needed to grow up to be big and strong. Its roots were made to drink and eat food, its trunk was made to take the food up to the branches, the branches were made to hold the leaves up to the sun, and the leaves were made to take the sunshine and turn it into more food for the tree to grow. And when all the parts of the tree are doing what comes naturally, they’re happy and the tree looks beautiful.

“But can’t the tree just stop growing?”
The tree can try to stop growing, but not growing only avoids the little hurts today, and it actually sets the tree up for a big fall later on. Although the trees don’t always realize it, not growing can hurt more than growing. The difference is just when and how the hurts happen.

“What do you mean?”
You see, when the tree stops growing it doesn’t feel any more little hurts so it thinks, ‘Hey this is great! No more hurts, not growing is good’. But the trouble is, stopping growing goes against the nature of the tree, and pretty soon the roots, branches and leaves no longer feel needed, they don’t know what to do with themselves, and they don’t feel important anymore. Sure, they keep the tree alive, but when they stop growing, they get stiff from being stuck in one place for so long.

“Maybe they can just rest for a little while, like a nap.”
Resting for a little while is fine, like on cold days, but resting for a little while can easily turn into a long while. And when that happens the tree loses its flexibility and becomes brittle. And worst of all, the parts of the tree that would usually be hard at work to keep it growing, begin to rot from the inside-out from lack of use. Now the tree might not feel it, but the rot weakens the tree and makes it an easy target for killer tree bugs.

“What’s a tree bug look like?”
Tree bugs come in all shapes and sizes, but they all share one thing in common (besides great big teeth)– they love to eat trees! You see, tree bugs are always hungry and trees are their favorite food. And once they’ve found the right tree, they tell all their friends and before you know it, they work their way deep into the tree and suck the life right of it.

“Yikes!”
And the worst part is that the tree might not even know that any of this is happening until it’s too late. Most of the time, the tree never imagines that it started all this trouble when it decided to stop growing.

“You mean the tree made the tree bugs?”
The tree didn’t actually make the bugs, but as soon as the bugs hear a tree complaining about how the wood rot hurts here, and how tired their branches are, how the weather gets worse every day, and how the other trees don’t seem to care, they start looking for the menu because they know they’ve found an ‘all-you-can-eat tree buffet.’

“So what happens to a tree with bugs in it?”
It depends. Some trees never really catch on and they just say ‘Oh well, it was meant to be’ or ‘its part of nature’s plan’ and they let the rot and the bugs carry on until eventually they knock the tree down. Now some trees will get mad and try to break off their branches that are rotting or bug infested, but this can only go on so long until there is nothing left of the tree. Then there are other trees that try to act like nothing is happening. They tell themselves that their bark looks fine, so there can’t be anything wrong. But after time, a hollow tree collapses.

“Timber…”
That’s right. Now there are some trees that try to take care of themselves. They work on regaining some flexibility by exercising and stretching in the wind. Unfortunately, they can’t always remember how to go from stretching to growing. And even though stretching helps make it easier to grow, if a tree doesn’t grow, stretching only prolongs the fall.

The good news is that once and awhile one of the trees, feeling good after stretching, may actually grow. The tree might not even realize what it did but all of a sudden it feels a little better. Its branches feel refreshed. It feels a little more in control of its life. Little hurts aren’t so scary anymore. All of a sudden the tree will start to remember how good it feels to grow and how much energy it had when it was little and spent all of its time growing.

“But a tree can’t keep growing forever or it would get so big that it would fall over.”
You’re right. The tree has to be careful about how tall it grows so that it doesn’t fall over, but that doesn’t mean it has to stop growing altogether.

“But doesn’t growing mean getting taller?”
When the tree is little growing seems to be the same thing as getting taller. But as the tree gets older it has to realize that growing isn’t only about getting taller, it’s about understanding its role in the forest and taking care of the other trees. Sure some trees may try to use being tall as an excuse and say “Well, that’s that, I am tall enough, so now I can stop growing.” But that tree doesn’t look so tall after the tree bugs finish with it, does it?

“Nope. But if it doesn’t grow taller, how does it grow?”
Getting taller may be the most obvious way a tree grows, but it’s not the only way. The tree can grow in lots of little ways that aren’t as easy to see, but are still very important. The thing is, growing taller was easy for the tree, it came naturally. But once the tree is tall, it has to actually think and make choices about growing. This can be hard and frustrating. When trees have to make their own decisions, they’re going to make some mistakes, and some trees would rather not risk making any mistakes.

“Yea but what about “try, try again”?”
You’re right, but some trees figure that once they’re all grown up it wouldn’t look good for them to make mistakes, and they don’t want face the hurt of making more mistakes, so they think they’re better off not doing anything at all.

“That’s pretty silly.”
Of course it is. Now there are other trees that do the opposite and try to do everything. But these trees don’t think about growing either, they just figure ‘on your mark, get set, grow!’ And they end up sending their branches and roots all over the place. But because they’re not thinking about what they’re doing, they’re never really happy because they don’t have any idea about where they’re growing.

“You mean trees get lost?”
Absolutely. Just because a tree is big doesn’t mean it can’t get lost. Sometimes trees get so busy branching out they stop paying attention to where they are standing. And before you know it, the tree is so big and has so many branches going every which way, it can’t even see the ground to try to figure out where it is.

You can always tell who these trees are because they talk about how great things used to be or how someday good things are going to happen to them again. Sadly, these trees seem to think, “If I just send out a few more branches or get a little higher, maybe then I’ll be able to get back to where I was or high enough to see what’s coming.” And the more energy they spend looking behind and ahead, the farther away they get from the answers they are so desperately searching for.

“Are the answers buried under a rock?”
Nope.

“Where are they?”
Believe it or not, the tree already has the answers, it just doesn’t remember where it put them. The answers are only hidden because the tree forget where they are.

“I hate when I can’t remember where I put things.”
But you have to keep looking. Some trees may go for years without even looking. And when they think about starting to look, they always come up with a million excuses of why it’s not a good time or how they’ll never find them, so why bother trying. It’s hard work to look, and if it takes a long time, it can be really frustrating.

“Yea but it feels great when you remember and then you go and find it.”
That is a great feeling isn’t it. And after you find it, don’t you feel silly having spent so much time looking everywhere except right where you put it to begin with? Sometimes you even get mad at yourself thinking ‘I knew it was there all along, how could I have forgotten! And how many times did I look right at it but not see it sitting right in front of me!’ That’s when you realize that there is a difference between looking and seeing. You can look right at things but not actually see them.

“It’s like when you tell me to pay attention to what I am doing.”
Exactly. When you pay attention you see things better and sometimes you can avoid falling or hitting your head just by paying closer attention. Paying attention is a lot like waking up. When you wake up, your eyes open and all of a sudden you can see everything that’s been around you that you couldn’t see before because your eyes were closed.

“So how can we wake up the tree?”
How do you like to wake up? Do you like it when your sister comes in and bonks you on the head and wakes you up? Or do you like it better when you wake up on your own? I don’t know about you but I like to wake up on my own and open my eyes slowly. Although sometimes I do need someone to nudge me a little and wake me up so that I don’t miss something important.

“What happens when the tree wakes up?”
Think about what happens when you wake up. First you reach way up high with your arms, you stretch your legs way out straight, and you arch your back way-back. Then you wiggle your toes and your fingers, and you crinkle your nose and you start to open your eyes. It’s sort of like checking out all of your parts to make sure everything is still working.

That’s what the tree has to do too. It has to start by checking out all of its parts. It has to wiggle its roots in the dirt, and stretch its stiff bark and shake a few leaves. It has to pay attention. One tree told me that when it pays attention it can actually hear the water being sucked up by its roots and feel it being pumped up the trunk until it reaches the leaves who smack their lips as they drink the cool water after being in the hot sun.

“Mmmmm. That sounds good.”
It is good because as the tree checks out its parts, it will toss the dead leaves and decayed branches, it will kick out the bugs, and it will start to heal old wounds. This may take the tree a long time, but each day, it gets a little healthier and it can see a little clearer. Until one day, the tree suddenly says ‘Hey, not only can I see the branches, but I can actually see my leaves and roots and branches all at once!’

When this happens, the tree realizes that its roots tell a story about where it came from, and the trunk shows where it is now, while the branches dream about where the tree is going. When all of these come together, the tree feels whole again, and it knows where it needs to grow to find the happiness that it has been looking for all along. The tree realizes that it is finally home.

“Is that like a tree-house?”
That’s the idea, and just like your house, a tree house is a place where the tree lives with its family and plays with its friends. It’s a place where the tree can feel safe and loved and free to grow. It’s a place of comfort and shelter from storms.

“Oh no, do storms knock the tree-houses down?”
Sometimes they can, but storms will also wake up sleeping trees — although it’s a lot harder way of waking up. When big storms come through they knock down a lot of trees and tear off a lot of branches. These storms are often tragic but after they’re done, they will have cleared room for each tree to stop and look around to see where it is.

Often, when the trees see how fragile they are amidst the winds of a storm, they stop trying to grow only for themselves and they start thinking about growing in a way that helps all of the other trees grow too. After a storm, the trees realize that all of the trees are in the forest together, and even though they don’t all look alike and they don’t all grow at the same rate, each of them contribute to the beauty of the forest and none of them can stand alone for very long. Trees that survive big storms understand that there is room for every tree in the forest. The forest is really the biggest tree-house of all; it’s the place where all of the families of trees live and grow together.

“Do the trees all get along then?”
Just like you and your friends, sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t.
Some trees like to think, “Now that I am big, I can do what I want. I’m going to grow a branch here, then another one there. Then I’ll send some roots there and add a few extra leaves over here. Better yet, I’ll grow the biggest branch ever and all the other trees will see how great I am.” Trees that think like this are setting themselves up for a fall, and worse yet, because they are so big, when they fall they knock down other trees too.

“But that’s not fair.”
No it’s not very fair, but trees like that don’t think about being fair. Every day they take food, water and sunshine away from a lot of other trees that need it too. Pretty soon, the smaller trees start leaving until the big tree is finally all by itself. And a tree that is all by itself has a hard time surviving since it has no other trees to lean on when the winds blow really hard, or cover up with when it rains or when the sun is hot.

“That’s sad.”
It’s sad because the tree knows better in its heart. It knows that sharing and caring is better for everyone. It knows that when trees share they all grow together, and when they all grow together, the forest thrives.

It’s sad because the trees are so close, but they just can’t see it.

Like weary travelers, we rested for a few minutes to catch our breath and let it all soak in. We had covered a lot of ground. I sat and looked again at the tree that started us down this tale. It was easy to see how the tree trunk had grown around the original tree-stake tubing that was never removed. It was also clear that this happened many years ago, as the tubing was buried within years of new growth in the trunk.

These were the facts, but this was not the greater truth offered by the tree. The facts were based on observation not exploration. By looking with my son, I saw how truth is actually more than the sum of its parts. I was reminded that truth unfolds all around us, especially in our tales.

My son and I had stumbled upon a tree that rather than allowing itself to be choked by an old wrap, decided that it made more sense to grow around the wrap, so that it could get back to its more important business of reaching skyward. We all have our own tree-stakes that hold us back or afflict us in one way or another and prevent us from reaching skyward. The story of the tree reminds us that we were not made for tree-stakes; rather, the tree-stakes were made for us. And when the day comes that the comfort of our tree-stake begins to rub and tighten around our core, remember the tree that so naturally and gracefully grew around it.

If we are to grow and experience the richness of life, we must be true to ourselves. We must be like the tree who chooses which stakes to keep and which stakes to break free from. When we try to ignore our tree-stakes, lament over them, or fight with them, we merely serve to tighten their grip over our lives. Too often we forget what every tree and flower seems to know by nature; that we are the keepers of our own gardens. And ultimately, we empower the stakes to either hold us back or support new growth.

Life moves forward, ever branching out like the tree. What we achieve in this life depends upon our capacity to experience it. There will be times when our tree-stakes prevent us from fulfilling our dreams. But like the tree, when we grow through our restraints, we are forever changed by them, and we draw upon the energy of liberation to scale new heights.

As I make my climb, I will think often of the truth revealed that afternoon and the pride I felt as my son, after a few more moments of thoughtful reflection, took my hand and said:

“Come on dad, we need to tell the other trees about this.”

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