This was a picture of the oldest of Andy’s redwood trees. It was growing about a foot a year and was about 20 feet tall when it burned in the fire. He got it years ago as a seedling from Muir Woods on one of our annual trips to California to see my family.
Over the years he bought, or was given, several more seedlings, mostly from Muir woods except for the last one. Kaitlin and Torben bought that one for him at the Chicago Botanic Garden (one of our favorite places) and gave it to him for Father’s Day last month. Presumably that went up in smoke too.
They have traditionally given him Omaha Steaks for special occasions, so we were tickled when a box of those steaks arrived today with the message:
Hi,
Because your Father’s Day present didn’t last very long [ 🙂 ], we thought you and Mother might enjoy these.Love you both!
We no doubt will never again grow a 20-foot redwoood tree, but that doesn’t keep us from creating new memories.
What about you? What new memories are you creating?
I feel extraordinarily blessed to be the mother of four wonderful kids and I enjoy my life immensely. We’re creating new memories together all the time, in spite of the recurring problem of my husband’s depression.
gaelikaa,
Good for you for not letting his depression get you down. I admire you for that…your kids are blessed to have you.
My weekly recaps. Now, they will be permanently on record on the web. I can use that like the daily calendar that Viktor Frankl talks about. – “The pessimist resembles a man who observes with fear and sadness that his wall calendar, from which he daily tears a sheet, grows thinner with each passing day. On the other hand, the person who attacks the problems of life actively is like a man who removes each successive leaf from his calendar and files it neatly and carefully away with its predecessors, after first having jotted down a few diary notes on the back. He can reflect with pride and joy on all the richness set down in these notes, on all the life he has already lived to the fullest. What will it matter to him if he notices that he is growing old? Has he any reason to envy the young people whom he sees, or wax nostalgic over his own lost youth? What reasons has he to envy a young person? For the possibilities that a young person has, the future which is in store for him?
No, thank you,’ he will think. ‘Instead of possibilities, I have realities in my past, not only the reality of work done and of love loved, but of sufferings bravely suffered. These sufferings are even the things of which I am most proud, although these are things which cannot inspire envy.’ “
Having answered your question with that piece of borrowed wisdom, let me salute your children for that wonderful gift. Very creative and thoughtful.
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is now. ~Chinese Proverb
Rummuser,
I agree with Frankl, and you. I’ve never wanted to be younger than I was. I would have had to give up too much.
somehow behind with my ‘in box’ – might be because of the problem I have encountered at Conrads’ blog-site…
I love the present that your family sent you…hope they were a tasty addition to your week.
Cathy,
Yes, they tasted great in addition to giving us a chuckle. 🙂
It would only take 20 years to grow another redwood tree. And If there were cones, which there probably were, the fire may have caused some of them to open and the seeds to germinate. Redwoods need fire to start new redwoods.
Quercki,
Unfortunately the tree needed TLC. We don’t have 20 more years to give it. As far as we know redwoods need low-intensity fires to germinate. Our fire was estimated to be 35000 degrees Fahrenheit, hot enough to scorch the earth and kill seeds. But we will see.
Thank you for coming by!