Let's talk Christmas trees, shall we? And also cut flowers. I'll start with Christmas trees first although much of what I say about Christmas trees applies to cut flowers, and even in some cases animals.
I think cutting down a tree, bringing it into the house, and stringing it with electrical wires and light bulbs, is weird. I have always felt this way, or at least that is how it seems now, but it might be the case that as a child I accepted the common wisdom that this was a good thing to do. I am pretty sure, however, that I had an instinctual feeling that it was wrong, just as I was sickened every time I went into the meat aisle of the supermarket as I tagged along with my mother when she went grocery shopping. As a young adolescent I turned this feeling into an intellectual argument, but I think the feeling has always been with me, and always sincerely felt.
As I mentioned at the start, the I had the same feeling toward cut flowers, although I think I arrived at this position somewhat later than I did with Christmas trees, and for somewhat different reasons, at least initially. As a young boy, I was alienated from the aesthetic. Highly gendered, cut flowers were for girls. I could admire flowers growing outside, but the world of stems in vases was a bit out of my ambit. This sentiment, too, later evolved into an intellectual lament: Why kill beautiful flowers, who were happily growing outside, only to try to extend their life by putting them in water, often with aspirin or some other additive that was supposed to help preserve them?
I now feel that having any kind of plant in the house, even living ones in potted plants, is strange and unhealthy. As much as I like plants, I generally feel that they belong outdoors, rooted in the soil, in the earth, and not inside. I think the same is true of animals. Don't get me started on the idea of birds in a cage. As a teenager I was an avid aquarist. No more. I was happy to read several years ago that the Italian city of Bologna had outlawed keeping goldfish in bowls. Bravo.
I think cutting down a tree, bringing it into the house, and stringing it with electrical wires and light bulbs, is weird. I have always felt this way, or at least that is how it seems now, but it might be the case that as a child I accepted the common wisdom that this was a good thing to do. I am pretty sure, however, that I had an instinctual feeling that it was wrong, just as I was sickened every time I went into the meat aisle of the supermarket as I tagged along with my mother when she went grocery shopping. As a young adolescent I turned this feeling into an intellectual argument, but I think the feeling has always been with me, and always sincerely felt.
As I mentioned at the start, the I had the same feeling toward cut flowers, although I think I arrived at this position somewhat later than I did with Christmas trees, and for somewhat different reasons, at least initially. As a young boy, I was alienated from the aesthetic. Highly gendered, cut flowers were for girls. I could admire flowers growing outside, but the world of stems in vases was a bit out of my ambit. This sentiment, too, later evolved into an intellectual lament: Why kill beautiful flowers, who were happily growing outside, only to try to extend their life by putting them in water, often with aspirin or some other additive that was supposed to help preserve them?
I now feel that having any kind of plant in the house, even living ones in potted plants, is strange and unhealthy. As much as I like plants, I generally feel that they belong outdoors, rooted in the soil, in the earth, and not inside. I think the same is true of animals. Don't get me started on the idea of birds in a cage. As a teenager I was an avid aquarist. No more. I was happy to read several years ago that the Italian city of Bologna had outlawed keeping goldfish in bowls. Bravo.
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