The View from the Forest
“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.”
These are difficult times, and as each one of us works to figure out what part we play in helping to flatten the curve, there seems to be ample opportunity for reflection. A theme has emerged for me over the last couple weeks. In the midst of unprecedented change, I have had to focus on the things that are most important in my life, and in the life of our business.
We are ramping our operations down to a minimum and working to keep our employees separated. We are lucky that much of our work is outside or in open areas where social distancing is fairly easily maintained. Paul is working from home, but still very connected to the operations here, and keeping things running smoothly. We are doing our best to fulfill existing orders, and we are taking new orders, but with the caveat that production timelines are tentative at best right now. Interestingly, the entire timber and wood products industry has been deemed essential by the federal government. Yet I know that while important, the work we do is not essential to national security, and therefore we are scaling back.
As things go quiet here at the mill, I have had more time to walk through the forest with my two boys, ages three and five. This has allowed me time to explore the forest a bit more, and reflect on the fundamental underpinnings of the work that we do. Flooring, lumber and millwork is a means to an end. It allows us to steward this forest, and help our neighbors throughout the Willamette Valley to manage their forests. As the human world slows down around us, the forest is not slowing down at all. In fact things are starting to speed up. Spring is coming, and the forest is just starting to burst forth in every possible shade of green that you can imagine. Pretty soon there will be a green wall of foliage in every direction up here.
I recently learned of a beautiful quote from Martin Luther that sums up my feelings pretty well. “Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” The world around us is very uncertain right now, and I will admit that there is some amount of anxiety about what the future holds. Right now I am focusing on taking care of trees and people. Actually the trees do a pretty good job of taking care of themself this time of year. I just get to enjoy the greenery. As for people, everyone at Zena is safe and healthy, and we are doing everything we can to keep it that way.
Wishing the same to you and yours.
