Eastern Hemlock
Hemlocks are vital and common evergreens that shade streams and fish, forests and plants, and mammals that rely on their year-round cover. They grow over much of eastern North America.
But they have been under siege for many years, weakened or killed by the woolly adelgid (Adelgis tsugae), an insect that arrived in the eastern United States by accident from Honshu Island in the 1950s.
Where I live, some of the giant stands of older hemlocks that shaded the steep banks of the Connecticut River with their delicate short needles have died. Yet hemlocks still grow in many of the forests around here. Connecticut scientists have released an Asian ladybeetle (Sasajiscymnus tsugae) that eats only woolly adelgids to slow the takeover.
That, along with a few very cold winters, slowed the insect takeovers and gave hope. But this quest to undo damage continues. Adelgids can survive through the steadily warmer winters.
What do you love about this particular creature?
What do they reveal to you about God and our faith?
I love that the hemlocks have withstood the battle, maintaining their place, protecting an ecosystem that shades plants and animals and keeps streams cold for fish. They still define the forests near my home.
I hope—and worry—over the ways humans brought an insect here by accident on a ship, creating a crisis for the hemlocks, and now try to solve that with another creature, a lady beetle also from far away. We manipulate the lady beetle in our attempt to do penance and save our native tree. But isn’t that worth it?
When the woolly adelgid first showed up, scientists warned that all the hemlocks might die, totally changing this forest. That hasn’t happened. Humans, for all our intelligence, can’t control our world on our own. But God can work through us.
I think that we can hear God’s word in undoing this damage.
Author - Christine Woodside
Christine Woodside is a writer who lives with her husband in Deep River, Connecticut, near the lower Connecticut River.
O God, having shown us how far your love goes in saving the lost and forgotten, mercifully grant that we might join you in the work of reuniting with all creatures; through Jesus Christ the Wisdom of Creation, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.
Creation Collect (Proper 19 Year C) from Season of Creation, A Celebration Guide for Episcopal Parishes