Part of an e-mail I recently received from Jana Ekdahl made me a little proud, and another part made me a little concerned. The proud part had to do with a piece I wrote in 2009 about the sexiest trees in Seattle. It turns out that my description of and attraction to the first tree on my erotic list, the Big One ("the lure of big trees is that they are heavy with life and are deep in thought"), inspired Ekdahl to nominate it as a Heritage Tree, and this honor was granted. Finally, here was some evidence of the existence of the real world. It is out there and can be even modified by something as ghostly as my writing. Learning about the change in the tree's status amazed me in much the same way a kitchen drawer supernaturally opening and slamming shut would.

And now for the part that worried me. Ekdahl explained that the Big One, which is located at the corner of East John Street and 11th Avenue, has become a victim of Capitol Hill's construction boom. Ekdahl wrote: "One day I went out to find this deep trench dug next to it. [Construction workers] had cut back the roots and placed a fire hydrant near the tree, with a new water main nearby." A tree preservationist also told my informant that it was probably severely damaged in the process. After making inquiries in a number of city departments, Ekdahl concluded that planners had neglected to protect the tree during construction.

I called the city's Landscape Architecture department to see if this was indeed the case and spoke with Bill Ames, a forester and arborist. He told me that he was the one who supervised the handling of the tree during the work, which placed a new fire hydrant on the corner and extended a water main to a new development across the street. (Developers paid a pretty penny for that extension, which had to cross a busy street—"There are two concrete panels [in the street] to go through, and that's about $24,000 each.")

Four thick roots were cut in the process. He stated, however, that this would not harm the tree as a whole. It could handle this loss. Hearty American elms are made of tough stuff. Also, the trench was refilled with organic mulch, which may make the Big One even bigger. According to him, all is in order. No one slept on the job. This tree will continue to live and provide shade for lovers. American elms are hermaphroditic.