Droughts, politics, abnormal freezes, increasing energy costs, water shortages, global warming, hurricanes, mortgage rates, poverty, shrinking polar ice cap, health care issues, pollution,  war …, the list goes on .   Sometimes I think it is enough to make a person quit reading the paper or watch the news and go bury their head in the sand, on a deserted island.   But, we don’t .  Still we struggle and strive and every morning we get up, and continue on, in all our varying ways .  Through all our world’s craziness, there are trees.  Why is that ?  Trees are a constant in our lives.  They help us maintain our balance.   They are one of our anchors . 

      Trees provide materials for our homes.  They buffer us and our homes from the heat and cold.  They purify the air and give us oxygen to breathe.  Fruit and nut trees give us important foods.  Trees hold the soil and help purify our water.  They give us hundreds, if not thousands of utilitarian products.  Then come every autumn they show us a display of color copied by artists everywhere.   The first drawing most children do, has a tree somewhere on the page.   They help us to enjoy our lives, to be happy and to feel good.   I have heard the phrase “Tree Hugger” used as a bad thing.   I don’t know, but it looks like we have just cause to hug a tree.

      Today you can buy a fast-food lunch for six or seven dollars.   If your like most of us, we’ll forget what it was by tomorrow.  For less than the price of a fast–food lunch, you can buy and plant a tree that can last for centuries .

      Thank you for being a tree planter, buyer, hugger, liker or looker .

Gary Clendenon- January 2008 

PS - The Swamp Chestnut Oak, Overcup Oak, and Gobbler Sawtooth Oak are all bargains considering the extra  quality they have.