Day 319 Giving

October 24, 2015

(If we live with an open and grateful attitude, every day will bring a gift. This is one of 365 gifts during the year I turned 70.)

Shel Silverstein wrote the children’s book The Giving Tree, which was first published in 1964. He wrote about a tree that kept giving to a child, even when he became an old man. The tree provided leaves for the boy to create crowns for imaginative play, became a place to hide for hide-and-go-seek, offered a trunk to climb and branches to swing from, grew apples for the child to eat and later for the young man to sell, and provided shade for a comfortable nap. When the boy grew up, the tree gave its branches to build a house and later its trunk to build a sailboat. And when the boy became an old man, the tree was still able to offer its stump for him to sit and rest

My crape myrtle tree was originally a gift from my father. It is also a giving tree. In the spring, green leaves appear, reminding me of life's promise, a new birth cycle. Its branches offer a perch for birds and their songs travel to me through the window as I sit at my computer. I am hoping that eventually when the tree fills out more, a bird might build a nest in it. Then, in late August, hot pink flowers bloom. Now that it's autumn, it is filled with vibrant orange leaves. In winter, I will find more beauty created by the interplay of bare limbs and clinging snow. This tree gives me pleasure in all seasons.

My gift today is a giving tree.

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> Day 320: Giving

You can find links to my other posts on this project here:
http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html

Day 260 Rooted

August 26, 2015

(If we live with an open and grateful attitude, every day will bring a gift. This is one of 365 gifts during the year I turned 70.)

A few years ago, when my father was strong enough to go to a nursery with me, we picked out a crape myrtle tree for me to plant at my house. My father gave a gift of his favorite tree to each of his three daughters so we might remember him after he died.

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in." ~  Greek Proverb

I did not inherit his green thumb but my sister did and as he gradually grew weaker near the end of his life, she made sure that he always had flowers in his apartment. However, I did inherit his love for flowers and was looking forward to hot pink blooms from this tree. I planted the young crape myrtle right by my front door and office window. The next summer, mine did not bloom and I worried that it would never have flowers. The next year arrived and there were still no blooms. But my father was still with us and I didn’t need the tree to spark memories.

One generation plants the trees; another gets the shade. Keep a green tree in your heart, and perhaps a singing bird will come." ~ Chinese proverb

This year, the tree is now tall enough to reach my office window on the second floor where I can see the vibrant pink flowers. I’m hoping that maybe one year a bird will build a nest in it. My father passed away the first week of last December but I can now look out my window and remember how much he loved flowers and his family. This gift keeps giving every year.  

He who plants a tree loves others besides himself." ~ English proverb

 My gift today is a blooming crape myrtle tree.

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You can find links to my other posts on this project here:

http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html