In these alarming times of devastating wildfires, raging floods and apocalyptic windstorms, it might feel like a contradiction to place the words “climate” and “hope” in the same sentence. Yet this global crisis is all the more incentive to welcome and learn from The Lost Trees of Willow Avenue: A Story of Climate and Hope on One American Street. Journalist, travel writer and climate activist Mike Tidwell brings these daunting issues down to a local, very personal level on the street he has called home for more than 30 years.
Takoma Park, Maryland, is a vibrant Washington suburb, known for the majestic trees that once lined and shaded its streets. In the new century, intensifying droughts, rains, heat and wind began taking their toll, stressing the trees in Tidwell’s neighborhood. Spring came too soon and summer stayed too long. Oaks dropped branches and their lush leaf canopies withered. Ambrosia beetles invaded the weakened trees to feast on vulnerable roots. Ivy vines took hold and began their strangling climbs upward.
When the city cut down and removed the dying trees, leaving stumps like “mute tombstones” lining the streets, Tidwell’s neighbor Ning Zheng, a Chinese American scientist, wondered where they all went. Finding land to bury thousands of dead trees deep underground, to shelter their carbon for years and provide such carbon offsets to industry, becomes Ning’s quixotic mission. Meanwhile, Tidwell explores the controversial possibilities of geoengineering the atmosphere (reflecting sunlight away from the planet), and he begins searching for ways he and his fellow imperiled humans can actually do something.
As deer proliferate in the new, season-defying warmth, so do their ticks, and the Lyme disease they cause. A long-suffering victim of chronic Lyme himself, Tidwell organizes neighborhood tick hunts. Solar panels, heat pumps and electric vehicles begin to multiply. “Electrify everything!” is the new mantra. With farmers facing systemic crop failures due to weather extremes, backyard and even curbside vegetable gardens start to flourish, now minus the trees’ shading shadows.
Like Ning, whom Tidwell nicknames the “tree undertaker,” there are other heroes in this epic fight: Tidwell’s neighbor and friend Congressman Jamie Raskin is one. Having survived the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, the loss of his son and his own cancer diagnosis, the Democrat is an inspiring, fervent agitator for federal help with climate change.
Like a friend with a gentle, coaxing voice—and an eloquent pen—Tidwell contrasts the ominous threats of climate change with the promising ideas and works of individuals and their communities. He insists we find a group to join, as strength in numbers is the only way to score wins in this fight. The Lost Trees of Willow Avenue leaves readers with a cautious optimism, an empowering sense of hope and a greater appreciation for our trees.
