Good-bye, old friend
On Wednesday, an old walnut tree was removed from the park ing lot of the Chevron station at the intersection of Los Angeles Avenue and Spring Road. The removal of the oldgrowth tree was unceremonious, leaving nothing more than an 8by8-square-foot hole in the asphalt where it once stood for close to 100 years.

The tree was left there when the gas station was built because it was a grand old tree. Back in those days, people would consider the age and the "grandness" of the tree, leaving the plants in place when building was done and asphalt laid. Thousand Oaks has paid similar respect to big trees along its main boulevard. Sadly, the Chevron tree had to be removed because it was interfering with station business operations and owners no doubt feared it might become a litigious liability.

A local poet, who chooses to work anonymously by the name The Walker, trekked five miles in the dark to a private residence out in the farmland of unincorporated Moorpark. His intention was to merely share his grief regarding the death of the Chevron tree through sharing a poem he had written to commemorate its demise.
"A Tree Without a Name" by The Walker
As I sit and watch us; changes.
Bareback to bus
Please allow me to stand tall as I once was
In pictures in your city's hall
If we had no choice - yell out
Give me a voice
In audible words to call - for I once lived
A moment in winter Now Fall - Falling - Fell.
My roots underground are as big.
Wounds form from cuts.
Please allow me to stand tall
Inaudible words to call - for I once lived
A moment in Winter, now Fall
In pictures in your city's hall
I say "Before you were, I was there.
But if you insist to take
The breath from your air."