Paper Birch tree

My metaphor is Paper Birch tree, scientific name Betula papyrifera.

It is native to Canada and New England, my birthplace, but can be found in Indiana as well, my home state. I grew up with one in my backyard in Indiana. When I was a child, I was fascinated with the peeling bark and would play with it.

The bark has to fall away in order for it to continue growing. The tree has various uses for nature:

• Wintertime food for moose
• Fall time food for white tailed deers
• Bark is a nutrient for porcupines and beavers
• Seed nourishes many small birds and mammals
• Home for eggs of insects including Birch Skeletonizer (a type of moth with an amazing name, named for how the caterpillars eats the leaves)

And for humans:

• Furniture including boxes, cartons, tables
• Pulp wood for paper making
• Tools like sled, bows, snowshoes, etc
• Birch syrup
• Fire starter (it is great for starting fire, but it will burn quickly not lasting long)
• Roof for sod-roofed houses
• Reforesting area, as it is resilient and fast growing
• Art of birchbark biting used by several Indigenous peoples

Paper birch trees thrive in cool weather areas AND areas where trees were removed through wildlife, avalanche, or deforestation. They were often use as the initial wave of reforestation.

Also, if there’s a fire, the well-watered paper birch trees won’t get burned easily. It can disperse seeds for the future generation to quickly grow in the initial aftermath.

And, the paper birch trees communicate not only with each other but with others.

Researcher Suzanne Simard, a Canadian forestry scientist, discovered that paper birch and Douglas fir trees were using an underground network to interact with each other. These trees, along with other trees, form a symbiotic association with below-ground fungi. Suzanne said “They compete with each other, but our work shows that they also cooperate with each other by sending nutrients and carbon back and forth through their mycorrhizal networks…The more Douglas fir became shaded in the summertime, the more excess carbon the birch had went to the fir. Then later in the fall, when the birch was losing its leaves and the fir had excess carbon because it was still photosynthesizing, the net transfer of this exchange went back to the birch.” [source]

What really stood out to me is that Paper birch competes with Douglas fir, but they also cooperate. Competition does not mean a negative thing. We compete by pushing each other to do our best, to have fun, AND work together.

In Deaf arts community, some artists are afraid of competitions. If another artist in the same town does similar art practices (obviously not plagiarism. Just similar art genre using same / similar medium. Example, two earring makers who create earrings from clay who live near each other), they sometimes feel like it becomes a bad competition, that it’ll hurt their chances of commissions, recognition, income, etc. “This town ain’t big enough for both of us” mentality, if you will.

But in actual, people are thrilled to have more arts by Deaf artists! And, by working together, we will thrive even more.

Also, it is good that the animals are able to enjoy Paper Birch trees. Moderation is the key. If the tree gave too much of itself to the creatures, it can lead to the death of the tree. The paper birch tree is able to alleviate some of that by allowing its bark to be peeled away. Help from humans is appreciated as well as long as the humans respect the nature’s need to nurture each other. And, having more paper birch trees mean there are more to go around. Critters can sample and eat a bit from each trees, thus preventing over-consumption of one tree.

One more thing I really appreciate about the Paper Birch trees is that they’re flexible. Their branches can bend without breaking. It is useful when there’s a lot of snow or strong wind. We all know this famous quote, “A tree that cannot bend will crack in the wind.”

So to put this all together, I create a pencil drawing based on Paper Birch, as well as my previous post. In the illustration, a person is sitting in front of a window that overlooks a Paper Birch tree. The person is holding a book, made of pulp wood from the tree, sitting in a chair made of the tree. Next to them is a dresser and a spoon made of the tree.