We live in the woods. OK, so not in a tent but our property is surrounded by lots of trees. Some of them are a hundred feet tall, others are relatively small. We’ve planted some but most were here when we bought the place 25 years ago.
Over that time, you get to know them. No, not on a personal level, but you know their natural cycles, you notice when one is losing leaves or has lost a branch in a storm. You worry about certain ones falling on the house. They provide everything from background noise in the wind to shade in the summer. And today, they got me thinking while I watched hundreds of leaves doing their autumnal dance as they fell in the wind.
Everyone needs trees in their lives and I don’t mean those of the botanical sort. I mean individuals who are a part of your landscape. People who stand tall and against whom you can lean when you need some support. People who may sway in the wind but who give you shade when you need it.
I’ve been really lucky in my life to have a few steadfast specimens growing with me. I married one and met others along the way. There are really only a handful but how many do you need? I think it’s important to have at least one in every aspect of your life – work, family, non-family, non-business, etc.
Like the ones out in the yard, they require attention (and mine demand feeding from time to time). Unlike the ones in the yard, they don’t appreciate some kinds of what we’ll call fertilizer. Those of us that are lucky have a veritable forest around us. It’s the Sahara for others.
Who are your trees? What are you doing to keep them healthy?
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Consult Keith 