INTRO
SNAPSHOT
CALLING OWLS
TO OUR SONS, 1982
THE ABORTION PALACE
MY SHIP
WAITING ON LARAMIE CREEK
IMPATIENS CAPENSIS
FROM THE TALE OF PETER MINK
THE ODYSSEY OF GLOOMY GUS
THE HUMAN CONDITION IS NOT
TED
OLD MAN TO HIMSELF
OLD DOMINION
AFTER YOU LANGLADE
SPRING PEEPERS
THE BRANDY LINE (ABOUT A FAVORITE GOAT)
GROWING UP, TWO AMERICAS
WHEN I WAS FIFTEEN
A TRUE DOCTOR
ANNIVERSARY 1984
HILLS
LITTLE RIVER
THE LESSON
TREES OF NEW JERSEY
BEYOND NORTH MOUNTAIN
OLD RIDER
MAKE REVOLUTION
MUSIC AT THE JACKSON
MEMORY
TO BETTY, 1982
DREAM OF CHARLES DE LANGLADE
CHICAGO AND NORTHWESTERN
THE SCRAPER
YOU CALL ME FOLLY MILLS
BY WINNEBAGO'S SHORE
ALONG 693
DEATH OF WILBUR
I DIDN'T KNOW YOU THEN
©Poems of R.F.Mueller- Other Times, Other Thoughts

THE ADVANTAGE OF INTELLIGENCE
R.F. Mueller


I've always admired the beech, a tree
that thrives in cool, moist woodland,
which, strangely, also gives it frost protection in spring,
allowing it to bud early there.
So when I transplanted one to my open yard
it budded out on schedule, but froze its leaves.
It survived, but promptly renounced its woodland habit,
and leafed out much later from then on
—proving that trees can learn as well as we!

 

annotation

This American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) sapling came from a cool, moist forest on the north-facing slope of "Pileated Peak", a 300 foot hill on our property that was named by my son Gus. The hill was named after the large Pileated Woodpeckers (Dryocopus pileatus) that are so common there. However, I made the mistake of planting it in shallow soil over a limestone ledge, an environment inhospitable to Beech, which, as I later discovered, likes acidic soil. Consequently, although the tree recovered from the shock of transplantation and continues to survive, it doesn't thrive, and is small for its age.