Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Trees for the Future !

He gave me a brief handwritten note. He asked me to mail the note to Arbor Day Foundation from which he was expecting ten trees promised when he had made an initial contribution. The foundation had notified him that they would mail the trees when the season for planting was right for our area of the country.  In his note he explained that he was 90 years old, had planted pines and oaks throughout his life in the south, he knew it was the season to plant and he wanted his trees. Luckily, I forgot to mail the note. When I drove to my parent's home the next afternoon,  my daddy was standing by his golf cart, raking moist dirt into a hole he had dug for planting a tree. The ten trees had arrived. He had dug six two foot deep holes and planted six of the trees. I was there for the planting of the sixth tree. He said he was going to bank the last four trees for another day.. He asked me to read the tags on each tree and tell him how large they would grow. He said his back hurt bad and he could not bend down to see the tree tags. He drove his golf cart over to get water and fertilizer to apply to each tree.  He told me that if somebody didn't begin to plant some trees, there would not be any oxygen for the next generation. I love his old fashioned faithfulness to preparing for the future. Daddy has always been one of those green thumb planters that could plant a stick and it would come to life. About 15 years ago, he planted a pine tree forest, stating it would be for the next generation. Those trees are now enormous and have been thinned twice. I truly hope he lives to see these six little trees grow tall and straight along with his grandchildren.
"He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers." Psalm 1:3 NIV

1 comment:

  1. Forgot to mail the note- ha! They might have appreciated it ;) I shared some of Powpow's trees on my blog earlier this week, too.
    I hope so, too!!

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