This summer, the Theatre Department at Interlochen is presenting "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical," a celebration of the songs that shaped a generation. It includes many from her landmark album "Tapestry." The emotional high point of the show is the song “You’ve Got a Friend,” which opens:
”When you're down and troubled,
and you need some loving care,
and nothing, nothing is going right...”
In a forest, there are times when a tree is down and troubled. It might be damaged by wind or ice, weakened by drought or deprived of nutrients. But in a healthy forest, a tree is never truly alone. Beneath the forest floor lies a living network — an intricate web of fungi, known as mycorrhizae, that connect the roots of trees.
Through this underground network, information travels. When a tree is stressed, chemical signals move through the fungi to other trees nearby. And in some species, those neighboring trees can respond. They send carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and even water through the network to the struggling tree.
Now, trees may not have friends in the way we do. They don’t feel loyalty or love. But through this network, they support each other—and that support sustains the whole forest.
Here at Interlochen Public Radio, we are part of a community ecosystem. And right now, we’re feeling some stress. Federal funds once allocated to support public broadcasting have been clawed back. It will hurt.
But just as a tree sends a signal through the soil, we’re sending out a message to our friends in our community. We need help to keep sharing the news, the music, and the voices that connect us all.
“And ain't it good to know you've got a friend,
When people can be so cold?
They hurt you, yes, and desert you,
And take your soul if you let them.
Oh, but don't you let them..."
