Changes in latitudes...changes in attitudes
I recently returned from a two week assignment to the Kingdom of Tonga. One thing that very much surprised me there was seeing pine trees all along the driveway of the campus where I was staying.
Having traveled throughout the Pacific for the past nine months, I've become somewhat familiar with the typical flora of this region. I had expected, of course, to see lots of palm, papaya and breadfruit trees. It never occurred to me that on a tropical island in the South Pacific, there might be the same kind of pine trees I would find growing back in America.
There is an ongoing trend of reforestation throughout the Pacific. Various types of trees have been planted for fuel, as well as for "erosion control, wind protection, shade, multipurpose construction and handicrafts,..and food." I am well familiar with the pine chipping plant that operates in Latoka, Fiji.
The pine trees I saw lining the driveway of the Liahona campus on the island of Nuku'alofa, however, were different from all that. Built in the 1940's by LDS Service Missionaries, this campus was probably adorned with pine trees as a way to give men and women from Utah a sense of familiarity, a taste of home.
There is nothing new about people in far flung lands wanting to recreate a sense of the familiar. Famous writer Robert Louis Stevenson had redwood timbers shipped all the way from California to Samoa to panel his wife Fanny's bedroom for that very purpose.
Having visited the Stevenson home in Samoa (Villa Valima), and then seeing this long row of pine trees in Tonga, made me reflect on how much we all carry seeds of our past experiences and bring them forward to our new environments. In what ways does that serve us? In what ways might it be detrimental?
I grew up in Arizona, a place that used to be touted as one of the best environments for those with respiratory ailments. "... in the late 19th century,many thought the arid climate was the answer to breathing problems. In 1881, the territorial government created an immigration commission, much like today's Tourism Department. Its first commissioner had tuberculosis. His mission: Make Arizona a health destination. An 1890 map gushed about the Valley as a health resort: "The many people cured here of diseases of the lungs and bronchial tubes, considered incurable elsewhere, are living proofs of the remarkable healing powers of the climate."
There is nothing new about people in far flung lands wanting to recreate a sense of the familiar. Famous writer Robert Louis Stevenson had redwood timbers shipped all the way from California to Samoa to panel his wife Fanny's bedroom for that very purpose.
Having visited the Stevenson home in Samoa (Villa Valima), and then seeing this long row of pine trees in Tonga, made me reflect on how much we all carry seeds of our past experiences and bring them forward to our new environments. In what ways does that serve us? In what ways might it be detrimental?
I grew up in Arizona, a place that used to be touted as one of the best environments for those with respiratory ailments. "... in the late 19th century,many thought the arid climate was the answer to breathing problems. In 1881, the territorial government created an immigration commission, much like today's Tourism Department. Its first commissioner had tuberculosis. His mission: Make Arizona a health destination. An 1890 map gushed about the Valley as a health resort: "The many people cured here of diseases of the lungs and bronchial tubes, considered incurable elsewhere, are living proofs of the remarkable healing powers of the climate."
However, those who went west for their health found the desert landscape of Arizona to be harsh and offputting. So they planted lots of trees and grasses to make it feel more like the green lands they left behind. That change in the landscape defeated the very reason they had come there. According to Paula Voorhees writing for Tucson Lifestyle Magazine, "As a result of these attempts to enhance the desert paradise, the Grand Canyon State is now overgrown with full-blown allergy centers. Arizona, in fact, has twice the national average of respiratory allergies".
Trees and grasses are not the only ways we change our environments when we move from one place to another. We spread ideas. We bring new technologies. We promote values and social practices. The proliferation of large franchise chain stores has not entirely eradicated unique locally owned shops and services in the US, but it certainly has changed the way many view what it means to go out to eat or to find a store. Globalization has carried many of those companies all over the world. When I traveled to Egypt in 2006, I was only mildly surprised to see McDonalds in Cairo.
Trees and grasses are not the only ways we change our environments when we move from one place to another. We spread ideas. We bring new technologies. We promote values and social practices. The proliferation of large franchise chain stores has not entirely eradicated unique locally owned shops and services in the US, but it certainly has changed the way many view what it means to go out to eat or to find a store. Globalization has carried many of those companies all over the world. When I traveled to Egypt in 2006, I was only mildly surprised to see McDonalds in Cairo.
So as I continue to travel around various parts of the world, I often wonder about the changes in the physical and social environments that are taking place... both deliberately and those subtle shifts that occur without the catalysts of change even being aware of them. Many of the island people I meet who may or may not own a pair of shoes carry cell phones. I have found it quite common to hear American music coming from radios all over the Pacific.
I believe it is naive to think we can or should walk through this world without making changes. The trick, for me, is making every effort I can to be respectful of the places I visit and to try my best to be sure that whatever changes I leave behind will be honorable. ####
More Trees from Tonga:
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