Stretching in the Elm Cathedral
I have written elsewhere about the American elms found on the property of my workplace. To summarize, American elms were a favorite of city planners in the 19th and early 20th centuries until Dutch Elm Disease started mowing them down. Anyway, there is a stand of American elm trees where I work that somehow avoided Dutch Elm Disease. I suspect they are volunteers from nearby elms planted long ago since these volunteers seem randomly placed, milling about rather than taking a designated spot. True to the way of elms, the elms in this stand branch beautifully, forming a canopy that creates dense shade particularly in the mid to late afternoons. The arching of the branches reminded me of buttresses in a medieval church, thus I began referring to this area as the Elm Cathedral. A recent heat wave drove me to get my two walks done early in the day. Leaving aside the safety of walking briskly in 100° heat, there are the social mores about being red faced and sweaty at work. But to sit or