I just saw a segment on CBS Sunday Morning about the memorial for disabled soldiers in Washington, D.C., and they said they had planted gingko trees there because they are survivors, and because the leaves turn the color of flame around the time of Veterans Day.
I’m sure that’s very thoughtful of the memorial planners to want the trees to look like they’re on fire on Veterans Day (Don’t you think that might not be the best design idea for solders who might have PTSD?), but maybe they should have stopped to consider what the trees smell like. Where I went to college, we had a bunch of gingko trees, and I can tell you, when their seedpods drop off, they smell like a festering, rotting garbage truck. It’s enough to make you gag. I think that smell is going to be like a slap in the face to veterans visiting the memorial, and that’s the last thing they need.
Plus, apparently some people are allergic to gingko and can get a poison ivy-like rash from touching some of what drops off the trees.
So nice choice, guys! They’re pretty, but they really stink. But I guess that makes them perfect for Washington, huh: lovely exterior, rotten inside. Oh, and like most Washington projects, they will require an awful lot of continuous and expensive maintenance, adding to our budget deficit, and taking funds away from the VA.
Couldn’t they have selected oak trees? You know, the kind you tie a yellow ribbon around? They would have been beautiful and smelled fine, plus offered shade and strength to our disabled veterans. Oh, and like I said, there’s that connection to supporting soldiers we all already know.
I’m glad they made the memorial, but I think they messed up with the trees.
Maybe they can offer free nose plugs for visitors (although I doubt even that would help with gingko trees).
