Making a Difference in Life is as Easy as One, Two, TREE!

“The one who plants trees,

knowing that he will never sit in

their shade, has at least started

to understand the meaning of life.”

~Rabindranath Tagore

One and a Half Foot Table Top Christmas Tree Bought Six Years Ago at a Grocery Store

It’s eight o’clock in the morning. I’m dressed, seated at my desk, mug of coffee in hand, gazing sleepy-eyed through the window at…at nothing, really…the Douglas Fir, I suppose. I had gotten it from the grocery store six years ago my first Christmas here in Venice - its pot smartly wrapped in bright green foil, its branches adorned with a scant smattering of small, shiny, ornaments. It simply begged to be purchased and taken home. And look at it now, almost a good eight feet tall! And look at me now, still staring into the backyard at a tree while another hot mug of coffee grows colder.

Same Little Tree Planted in Yard After Six Years is Over Eight Feet Tall!

I felt the need to write this morning. It has been a while. It seems these days that my mind, once fertile farmland producing crop after crop of creative ideas, has, of late, become more of an anemic, blanched, landfill – mound after mound of murky, scattered thoughts lost in a dense fog of despair, frustration, and hopelessness.

I’m glad to have planted that evergreen. It has since become a small source of hope. Its growth has continued to mark time here on the southwest shore of Florida. Time. Yes, time has become an increasingly precious commodity. Unlike the tree, I’ve comparatively little left. It, on the other hand, will go on to grow for decades. Generations of birds will come and go, sharing songs and nesting among its branches, bringing new life into the world. Children who come to know this place as home will run around and play beneath it, taking respite in its cool shade.

All this, because of one simple decision I made six years ago. A living tree that will continue to yield life, long after I’m gone from this earth - a small contribution, somewhat of a personal accomplishment, but nonetheless an accomplishment, and that makes me feel good. I never gave much thought before now how by planting that small tree I would significantly be making a difference in life for years to come. The Fir Tree Effect, kind of like the Butterfly Effect. Yes, indeed, a good choice.- a well-spent $6.97. Now, where was I? Oh yeah, I was going to heat up my coffee...again!

The Butterfly Effect in Motion.