A POPULAR question in philosophy is this:
if a tree falls in a forest and no-one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
This is not the forum in which to speculate on matters of observation and knowledge of reality; what we can say with certainty, however, is that if someone plants a tree in honour of a loved one, that is an act of remembrance that will enrich the lives of many.
One who can bear witness to that truth is West Calder woman Margaret Murison, who yesterday planted a rowan tree at Scotland's First World War Centenary Wood on the Ministry of Defence training estate in the Pentland Hills near Edinburgh. She was honouring her grandfather and great-uncle, who both fell in the Battle of Ypres.
Eventually 50,000 trees will be planted. It is hoped the creation of the memorial woods will allow people to revisit and keep alive their family stories of those who served and lived during the First World War.
For £20, readers can dedicate a tree of their own, with the help of The Herald and Woodland Trust Scotland. It truly is a satisfying and rewarding way to honour and cherish one's roots.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
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