Guest Contributor: Michael Wolfe, Forestry Aide, Syracuse Department of Parks, Recreation & Youth Programs
Under two white pines on the shores of Sydenham Lake in Ontario, I asked my now fiancé to marry me. With the help of my childhood best friend and his partner we kept the plans secret. Posing the occasion as a photoshoot, we managed to get all the pieces in place. Everything was perfect and she couldn’t stop smiling. We spent the next three days dreaming of our future from a little island in Canada.
Jade and I share a bond about trees.
She and I met at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry during our first semester. We immediately became friends and discovered we had a lot in common. We bonded over niche music and storytelling, which grew our friend group and deepened our connection. During the pandemic, we moved out of the dorms and into the Westcott neighborhood, where we enjoyed our isolation together. At the time Jade was a Syracuse University cheerleader.
Days prior to a national competition in Florida, I had exposed her to COVID, meaning she had to stay home. I felt so bad that I vowed to join the team the following season with ambitions to make the nationals mat with her. Although we didn’t make it to nationals that year, I had joined the team and fulfilled my promise.
Currently, I work for Syracuse’s Forestry Division as a field technician and Jade works at Texas Roadhouse filling multiple roles from server to admin. What we’ve come to like about our jobs is the variation from day to day. Nothing feels repetitive or pointless. Most importantly, we have each found jobs that have made space for us to grow both personally and professionally.
My senior year at ESF, Jade had mentioned urban forestry as an avenue for climate justice. Months after she mentioned that to me the opportunity to obtain an urban forestry minor presented itself and I took it. From then on, I was fascinated by the alternative to traditional forestry. Now that I work for the city, Jade comes to planting events and tree walks. In return, I visit her at the restaurant and sit at a table in her section.
When Jade was in high school, she took a dendrology class. By the time we met in college she knew how to ID more trees than I did! Once it was my turn to study dendrology, we would frequently go on walks and attempt to ID the trees that we would come across. To this day we walk and quiz each other on trees in between conversations. Often on our walks we see examples of bad pruning cuts made by homeowners (on private trees) which I also love pointing out to her. She knows that I like to ramble about trees and encourages me by asking lots of questions, and sometimes throwing me a curveball.
One of our dreams for the future includes purchasing a home with existing canopy around it. Since we live in a city, we are always looking for houses that are adjacent to drumlins or forested areas. We want to experience the best of both worlds and are determined to find some place to call our own. Should we succeed, I am hoping that there is enough sunlight to plant a few apple and peach trees in our yard to reflect our favorite fruits.