LOCALadk Magazine

Rhiannon Happy fall, Editor LOCALadk 6 A M E S S A G E F R O M R H I A N N O N LOCALadk Ah, fall — my favorite season of them all. Like many, I am a sucker for fall foliage, but I think it's more accurate to say I'm simply a sucker for trees. I'm not quite sure when my deep affection for trees blossomed, but I have been a hope- less dendrophile for as long as I can remember. To simply see a tree, to see the thickness of its trunk as a testament to its years of obser vations and wisdom, its twisting majesty reaching towards the sun, the strength of its roots weathering the harshest of storms while working to hold the ground firmly in place — to see a tree is to see poetr y. I am deeply inspired by the beauty and wonder of trees, as is evident by my previous two LOC ALadk "Letters From the Editor." (I told myself that I need to write about something other than trees one of these days. Today is not that day.) Aside from their strength and beauty, it is their less- er-known inherent sense of community that leaves me in awe (pun unintended). During our early months of dating, my now-husband bought me two books as my first gift: David Eagleman's Sum (2009) — a fabulously mystical and entertaining collection of short writings providing forty unique possibilities of what the afterlife could be like, and Peter Wohllenben's The Hid- den Life of Trees (2016) — a collection of extensive research presented through sweeping prose regarding the incred- ible emotive and communicative nature of trees. (While I married my husband for far more important reasons than his gift-giving, receiving these two books certainly didn't hurt his case.) In reading environmentalist and conser vationist Tim Flanner y's foreword to The Hidden Life of Trees, we get a slice of the magic revealed in Wohllenben's work. "But the most astonishing thing about trees is how social they are," Flanner y writes. "The trees in a forest care for each other … [T]hey need each other." These words ring true as Wohllen- ben's book describes the seemingly constant connectivity of messaging, emotional responses ( yes, trees have feelings), and sharing amongst trees — with a huge help from vari- ous fungi species who frequently keep any feuding trees in check and playing well with others. More on this another day. In his own words, Wohllenben's view on trees can be simplified to one statement: "their well-being depends on community." With the much-discussed election season upon us, I think of our own well-being depending on our sense of commu- nity, our right to vote being one of our great contributions towards that conversation. With that, I encourage you to find your polling place, make a plan, and vote. To make your ability to do so that much easier, here is some NY voter information: • Election day: November 5, 2024 • To find your polling place: visit www.vote.org or https://voterlookup.elections.ny.gov/ • Early voting (in person or by mail): Early voting begins October 27, 2024. For early voting polling loca- tions, visit https://elections.ny.gov/early-voting • Apply for early mail-in ballots or absentee ballots: visit https://elections.ny.gov/request-ballot to apply. (Applications must be received by the board of elec- tions in your county no later than October 26. Mailed- in votes must be postmarked no later than November 5 and received no later than November 12) We thank you, as always, for your readership and en- courage you to support the wonderful and talented local business throughout the Adirondacks whenever possible. It is through their continued support that we are able to bring LOC ALadk to you and yours as a free publication.

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