I think that I shall never see, a poem as lovely as a tree...

I will always remember this summer as the summer of the pine tree! Last March, when the snow had begun to melt I was walking around the yard and discovered to my dismay that many of my pine trees appeared to have died over the winter. In the spring, an arborist came over and analyzed the situation. My trees had been plagued with scale, often called the white blight, a deadly conifer insect invasion. I often tell people that we bought the property on New Hope for the trees and were lucky to have the house come with it. I love my trees and this news was devastating. Mr. Tree Man, though, gave me hope that for a measley $6,000 dollars he may be able to save them. Knowing that it would cost that much to remove them, we took the risk and put all summer plans on hold. Needless to say, I have intertwined my life with the health of my trees the past few months. I have prayed for my trees, sung to my trees, watered my trees, talked to my trees and learned several lessons from my trees. Maybe it was not a coincidence that during the same period, I have had to begin again and recover from a few of my own "blights."

An interesting thing about struggling plants is that during stressful times such as a drought, they put forth an over abundance of seed, insuring that should they die new life will still spring forth. This spring saw a proliferation of pine cones. As I watched my trees, giving it their all, I was reminded rather that give up it was time to give it my all too. We had to fertilize regularly this year and try to replace many of the lost nutrients that the bugs had sucked from the trees needles. Fertilize regularly I remind myself--a more in depth discussion of this is on my blog colleendown.com. I have spent a great deal of my vacation time this summer sitting under a tree with gratitude for the shade and beauty they provide--I hope they feel my vibes. Things are looking up around here. I see life every time I circle the yard and as I have become more mindful, I have also seen life in the branches. Our large risky investment seems to be paying off, both for my trees and myself. It will be a vacation to remember!