A tree of hope - Walk in the Park

Cloudy grey skies cover the world overhead as Jilly & I walk to the park today. But even though I'd hoped for more sun, it doesn't darken my spirits. I'm too busy admiring the pink, purple, yellow and white blooms of dogwoods, rhododendrons, and iris all around me.

There's a house that I pass everyday on the way to the park that always grabs my attention. It's not the house itself, it's this tree in the front yard, or rather what's left of the tree. It used to be a large plum tree, much like the one in my backyard. But now, it's a sad, cut down trunk of a tree. Why the owner cut it down, I don't know.

What's so hard to look at is the way it was chopped and then left to die. They cut off all the limbs and then chopped into the trunk at odd angles. But they left about 3 feet of the tree trunk just standing there bare and mutilated. For a long time now, every day I walked by it, I cringed.

But not anymore. You see, over the course of the last year, I saw these tiny twigs sprouting from the sides of this poor tree trunk. There were no leaves, just little branches. At first, I thought maybe I hadn't noticed them before, that may be the owner had run out of steam cutting the tree down and left them there. Maybe they did just figuring the tree would die.

It didn't die. This year, there were tiny buds that flowered. Yes, against all odds and in spite of all the ill treatment, this tree is springing to life.

This tree gives me hope. It proves to me that no matter what happens in life that may cut you down, you can bloom again. All you have to do is keep yourself rooted and you will not only survive but grow and blossom again. Now everyday, I when I walk by this tree and I smile.