The seemingly fun, broad, and vibrant subject of trees is actually a complex and uncomfortable one. When thinking about the 150-year-old history of the linden trees on Laisvės Avenue, one can’t ignore the sight of dried-up trees that didn’t survive the reconstruction and are being replaced with new ones. And in the homestead of a wooden furniture maker, you pause upon learning that it was built using wood harvested from a grove that once grew on the same plot.
It is clear that the relationship between a human being and a tree (as well as other natural resources) is selfish. Certainly, initiatives such as Ancient Woods Foundation encourage everyone to think not only about their own children’s future but about the future of all the world’s children. However, you can’t ignore your yard either.
Cover illustration by Paulė Bocullaitė
Therefore, although it has sparked debates about ethics and environmental protection, Kaunas resident Laima Petrovienė’s gift to the city – an 18-metre-high spruce that has become too big for her homestead and which will stand in Vienybės Square during the festive season – is good news. Yes, in a few months, the symbol of modern Christmas will probably turn into a biofuel but in a short time it will be remembered by thousands of Kaunas citizens, immortalized in family photos and selfies. Ephemeral, you say. But what is eternal?
Does every aspen want to become a matchstick? Hardly. But what if it knew that the label on that matchbox would captivate a seven-year-old boy and spark a lifelong hobby? Maybe then the sacrifice would seem more meaningful. Today, that boy is over 70, and his collection contains more than 2 million labels. Aleksas Avalasevičius is the hero of our ‘wooden’ issue.
Other heroes include architect Povilas Konkulevičius, who inherited his great-grandfather’s wooden house, Rita Kybartienė, a riflewoman introducing young people to the forest, Bangutis Prapuolenis, a restorer of wooden furniture, and, of course, Kaunas’ trees and wooden architecture, which can be found in all parts of the city in its many forms. For dessert: an introduction to curvies, which even required a special glossary.
