Lagniappe: Trees and Mordor

A construction project on my campus once destroyed some grass and trees near the library building, perhaps a necessary but certainly regrettable preliminary to expansion of the library. On the board fence surrounding the project, a number of slogans were painted. One near the entrance said simply, "The Gates of Mordor." Unfair, perhaps, but Tolkien — who was moved to write "Leaf by Niggle" when a tree near his home was cut down — would have understood.

Richard L. Purtill, Lord of the Elves and Eldils

I still remember sobbing when a utility truck cut off the tops of a long line of majestic trees one summer when I was young. My mother tried to comfort me and I knew it was a practical action, considering the frequency of ice storms in rural Kansas. However, I still felt for those trees.