Tree Talk

THE LULU CHRONICLES

When we moved out into the country my life has changed drastically.  I found myself enjoying riding our lawn mower more than driving our Saturn.  I watched the stars more than I watched television.  And, I began to talk to trees. Maybe that’s why I find it so easy to talk to LuLu, my pink bike now. When you start out talking to trees, it stands to reason that you’ll start chatting with your bike next.

It all started when we planted five pine trees on our land.  They were small, no more than a foot tall, displaced, and fighting for their little lives. I watered them, stroked their little needles and talked.

           

Goofy, huh? Probably.

Yet, I’m still doing it fourteen years later. Those trees are way taller than me now and cast a lovely shade in the late afternoon. But the habit stuck and with each new planting there I am watering and chatting away. These days talking to and coaxing new life gives me great comfort. With our country in such dire straits these days, I feel compelled to nurture every living thing around me from pine trees to aging parents, from grandkids to geraniums. Nurturing gives me hope.

By nurturing things around me, it reassures me that there is still goodness out there.  It helps me believe that all life is precious, that most people want to tell the truth, that most married couples are faithful to one another, and that baby pine trees matter.

I need to focus on all that is good. Laughter.  Friendship.  Family.  Love.  Faith.  And pine trees.

I want to take nothing for granted. Children. Grandchildren. Parents. Teachers. Preachers. Mentors.  Role Models. Heroes. And, pine trees.

I want to inhale life. Birds. Mums. Sun. Moon. Lakes. Rain. And, of course, pine trees.

It is so easy to get sucked into all the bad stuff being toss around like political rhetoric, slow economy, unemployment, and whatever else is trying to pulls us down. Don’t let it win. Drive out to the country. Take a walk in the forest. Sit by a pond. Hug a friend.  Hold a child. Kiss a parent.  And, most definitely, talk to a pine tree… or a pink bike for that matter.

Later,

deb