Pruning Lessons: A Metaphor
Tonight I'm going to wander a bit to get to the point of my essay. Please bear with me for this reflective discourse into the metaphorical.
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By My Hand
Today I played God looking for the soul of a tree.
Taking pruning shears in hand I studied the artful structure of a bare-branched sumac tree in my garden.
The goal was to enhance the gnarled growth of the tree; to make more of it than it was would be one way to look at it.
But it felt more like a kinship asking the tree to show me where it wanted to go.
Where it was too crowded?
Where it needed to be left alone?
At times the decisions felt immense and took many false starts; other times it was obvious what to do.
Pruning like living is a mixture of skill and experience.
Living like pruning sometimes takes a couple of seasons to know if the results are worth the effort.
That the cuts did more good than harm.
That in the end more balance was gained.
By Nature
A few days before the fall equinox in 1995, a belligerent snowstorm came and caught the trees still clothed in summer’s leaves. As I crawled into bed that night I heard one shuddering crack after another and hoped it wasn’t the beautiful ball-shaped maple in the front yard.
The next morning I walked through the wet, heavy snow to look at the damage. Eleven major limbs, not branches, but limbs lay on the ground. The beautiful round shape only a memory. Sap, like tears, poured from the jagged wounds in the sunshine that morning.
This tree had been babied by me for 18 years. It was the one naturally, well-shaped tree on our property when we moved in to the house with our family. I had alternated bare-branch pruning with leafed-out pruning to insure the shape and health of the tree. It was fed, sprayed only when need be and admired often. Once I even sat on the edge of our two-story roof to chase off a huge gathering of gackles that were determined to make the tree their night roost, spraying them with a blaster nozzle on our garden hose until well after dark each night for about a week until they gave up.
I cultivated a relationship with a tree service over the years and gained the trust and respect of the owners to the point that after that storm they called me to ask how bad was the damage. This was unique in that ever tree service in the city was completely overwhelmed with calls for service and booked for months. I replied, it's bad. They showed up the next day and cleared away the downed limbs and assured me they would be back soon to try to salvage what they could of the tree.
We had this relationship because they knew I truly respected their skill and they knew I loved and cared for my trees. I was usually on-site when ever they came and served refreshments to the workers while we discussed what I wanted and what they thought was right. I frequently checked on the progress and they knew not to put away their tools until I had given the final okay. This all worked fine until one day they sent out a questionable new hire; a cocky, swaggering fellow that looked a little stoned. I had a sudden call that I had to be somewhere else, so after going over my instructions I left with an anxious feeling that the fellow was less than caring or skilled. When I got back they were gone and I was just sick as I viewed what he had done to my tree.
I called the owner and very nicely asked him to come by and look at the tree for me. He obliged and was nearly as appalled as I was over the damage to the tree. It had been way over-pruned, but left with long leggy branches that would snap with any kind of weight or hard weather. The shape had been completely changed from the full ball shape to a scraggly urn shape. It looked like it had been pruned by someone who hated trees.
As this had been one of the pruning during a leafed-out stage and too much had already been taken from the tree, we both knew the tree had to recover until it could be reshaped. A careful pruning late that fall plus five years and the tree was back into its ball shape. It was a few more years until that fateful storm.
In the days following the storm, I walked the perimeter of the property examining the tree from all sides, looking for ways to find a new shape that wouldn't leave horrendous gaps or weaken the tree. You can't 'hat rack' a maple. Some trees can handle that, but a soft maple can't. They came and did the best they could with what remained of the tree. Once again, so much had been lost that it really amounted to cutting back the stubs of the storm-ravaged limbs. They tried to console me by saying that since I had taken such good care of it for all those years that it had a better chance of surviving that did so many trees in the city. Indeed they were right for it was a record-breaking loss of trees in the city after that storm.
Something broke loose inside me in the aftermath of that storm. We had spent the last two and a half years in that house grieving the death of our oldest son. I had so many memories of him and his brother and sister playing in the branches of that tree, raking the leaves in the fall and spending hot summer afternoons in the shelter of its cool shade. They had all done the majority of their growing up in that house and were now out on their own. We were left with a wealth of memories of seasons and milestones and that tree had seen our lives played out across the lawn year after year while it shaded our home.
If the tree had feelings I knew what they were like. My son's death did the same to me. It destroyed the round fullness of our family. It destroyed the wholeness of my heart.
We had been looking for a smaller house to move to for some time. I had looked far and wide, but somehow nothing was ever quite right. I had made a science out of the search and had fat notebooks crammed with information, cross-referenced, detailed maps of the surrounding areas, the whole works that had even impressed the real estate agent we were working with at the time. I drove the city and traversed the foothills for hours at a time, searching.
A week after the storm while driving somewhere on an errand, I saw a sign for a new development and on a whim I turned down the street. I found it. I found it when I wasn't looking so hard. All that work pouring over countless pages trumped by a whim.
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So where does all this lead?
I look at what passes for our government these days and feel as if we have been ravaged by mad pruners. They care not for the shape or health of this tree of state or the ground that it grows upon. They have over-pruned the constitution and ignored our concerns. They have cut away the fruit to be gathered by their cronies and ignored our needs. They are cutting away to many of the young twigs of our military and taking axes to the limbs that shelter us from harm.
They are 'hat racking' the tree of our very Democracy and I feel like I did that morning standing in the snow looking at my tree knowing something very special that I had cared for and about for years was never going to be the same. We all know the litany of their crimes against us, the world and humanity - the damage they have done.
For six years this administration has been up in the branches hacking away without ever getting down to walk around and really look at or care about what they are doing. We have been on the ground watching each limb, branch and twig fall and seeing huge gaps and leggy branches that will be prone to snapping if a strong wind comes along. They have not nurtured or fed this tree, but have taken all they could and then some from it. The delicate web of feeder roots are being trampled, but I have hope that the taproot, that extends deep down into the earth, will sustain this tree until we can pull the mad pruners from the branches and take away their tools.
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My Selections
Diary: Congratulations, Mr President!
By: STOP George
tgray asks an interesting question regarding Al Gore's Oscar win.
Christin has a very happy response to Al's win.
Diary: Sept 23, 2002, Why Al Gore Should be President
By: davefromqueens
lale on Gore's humility and a new name/frame for Al that he certainly fits.
ppluto's comment for its 'on the ground' information of systemic changes taking place.
Mad Kossack with a 'blast' from the past.
Diary: Take the Gloves Off with Rumsfeld
By: Jesselyn Radack
Turkana adds to the list of Rummy's crimes and the media's complicity.
Jesselyn gives a short back story to her work on this issue.
xrepub draws some interesting parallels.
Diary: We'll run out of beer before we run out of oil
By: Jerome a Paris
Lucius Vorenus starts off this 'philosophical' thread.
jillian brings us info of unintended consequences.
mem from somerville brings up another unintended consequence of far greater magnitude.
johnnygunn has a couple of graphs on Food vs Fuel that tell a story.
Diary: To stop a war
By: jasmint53
pelican issues a priority challenge!
emeryboard writes and excellent LTE! We should all do the same.
Tom Rinaldo calls for action.
mariawells with some more action links.
hsvscg with another great LTE!
soccergrandmom has some fine reasoning on why Clark may be holding off on announcing any presidential bid. Makes a great deal of sense to me.
Diary: What's Reporting Got to Do With It? Everything
By: ilona
Cho adds a very illuminating tidbit to ilona's outstanding diary!
bumblebums cites and link to an excellent documentary that deserved an Oscar nod, too.
AceDeuceLady has a disturbing piece of information. If true it needs to be confronted.
Dreaming of Better Days rebuts ilona's fear that she is becoming a broken record with the voice of experience.
DWG vents and ilona follows up with some more fine points.
Diary: Frameshop: Elderly Women Eating from Garbage Cans
By: Jeffery Feldman
hackwriter homes in on the issues.
blue jersey mom on the challenges of elderly women in society.
Mikecan1978 gives a perspective from north of our border!
Roddy McCorley's splendid diatribe!
Diaries has a link about hunger in the US.
Diary: WaPo poll - very bad news for Bush
By: zenbowl
Yellow Canary lets loose on 'nomenclature lies'.
blueness and zenbowl have a nice discussion on polls and problems.
droogie6655321 on the ultimate consequences of 'crying wolf' for American citizens.
Diary: The King of Everything: Olbermann's Commentary Tonight
By: SusanHu
ticket punch starts off this thread trying to clarify Condi's statement within historical context.
inclusiveheart has been digging deeply into candidate's statements and legislation.
Dallasdoc asks some interesting questions and wonders if Josh Bolten running this scam.
Diary:"Gore Oscar in Doubt," say Supreme Court of the United States
By: JekyllnHyde
buhdydharma poses some snarky questions at the start of this thread.
greee with a line I have never heard before.
Diary: Crickets at the Washington Post
By: L C Johnson
Alice Marshall on why WaPo is so heavily invested in denial.
Dallasdoc on etiquette over substance for the vapor-prone Howell.
semiot speculates on the behind-the-scenes snippy tirades.
Rayne's take on the futility of trying to fix 'stupid'.
Front Page: Reading and Discussion: Cheney's Iran-Contra Views
By Kagro X
Mike S starts off this thread on power grabbing.
RFK Lives compares then and now.
jsmdkawyer doesn't mince any words in this comment!
Alumbrados makes it simple.
NoMoreLies presents a rationale for a new frame for this administration.
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From noweasels
hackwriter with a chilling and brilliant comment to a chilling and brilliant diary by Jeffrey Feldman.
Second recommendation for hackwriter's comment!
From Elise
Ketchupstan starts off a funny conversation in Jerome's We'll run out of beer before we run out of oil diary. Also from that diary, Inland and others discuss titles for a new Documentary project that will surely win at next year's Oscars.
From malharden
My Top Comments nominee is Walt Starr, for this comment on the Sharpton/Thurmond mess.
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Top Mojo - excluding search-identifiable tip jars, first diary comments and C&J comments:
1 Nope --- pontificator - 100
2 I don't think there could be --- STOP George - 67
3 . --- buhdydharma - 56
4 he did not announce --- ResponsibleAccountable - 54
5 Came for the Red Meat --- Gooserock - 50
6 Schmoochie Schwede! --- Debbie in ME - 48
7 Take a look at the reactions... --- STOP George - 47
8 I've heard your wife yell that loud... --- Gimmeliberty - 47
9 Smooch! --- Floja Roja - 44
10 I feel like Homer Simpson. --- Lucius Vorenus - 44
11 Thank you for posting this --- hackwriter - 44
12 Jumping right in! --- Texas Tiger - 43
13 I love this man --- Lisa Lockwood - 43
14 Two Words. --- consdem - 43
15 An Inconvenient Monday --- khereva - 43
16 Snowy South Shore --- sobermom - 43
17 I think budget deficits ARE important --- teacherken - 42
18 What a weekend. :-/ --- rserven - 41
19 9 pounds 99 PLUS VAT?!? Edition --- Texas Blue Dot - 40
20 The Envelope, Please! --- teeb - 39
21 I think the breaking point... --- pelican - 38
22 Hunger, or alternatively, mental illness: --- cathy b - 37
23 Bush/Cheney have murdered the very idea --- RudiB - 37
24 Green Koolaid --- zenbowl - 36
25 According to this site... --- Diaries - 36
26 Best Performance by a Hanging Chad. --- YellowDogBlue - 36
27 Bush wants it this way. --- DWG - 36
28 I live here n/t --- side pocket - 36
29 Schmoochies Jar - quickie-speed: --- Schwede - 35
30 Edwards is the candidate to work on changing the --- America08 - 35
Top Mojo - everything included:
1 I hope people will pay some attention to this --- teacherken - 177
2 tips --- davefromqueens - 175
3 Don't Be Giving Me --- JekyllnHyde - 171
4 Tips/Flames? --- Dood Abides - 166
5 Tip Jar - 26 February --- Jerome a Paris - 164
6 One of the most horrible things I've ever seen --- Jeffrey Feldman - 144
7 Tip Jar, and thanks. --- Jesselyn Radack - 131
8 Mornin' people. Let's tawk --- david mizner - 126
9 This Army mom thanks you --- jasmint53 - 124
10 Excuse the typos tip jar --- ilona - 111
11 Tips, iffen ye'd be so kind, --- lao hong han - 102
12 Nope --- pontificator - 100
13 I have no PLANS to run at this time --- buhdydharma - 94
14 So How DO You Use This Site? --- Alegre - 91
15 Tip Jar --- Craig Burnham - 78
16 Schmoochies Jar - slow and methodic (no pictures) --- Schwede - 75
17 I don't think there could be --- STOP George - 67
18 tipjar --- a gnostic - 63
19 I hope Rumsfeld is tried for war crimes --- mosesfreeman - 60
20 . --- buhdydharma - 56
21 he did not announce --- ResponsibleAccountable - 54
22 Your Pootie Pic Du Jour ... --- PhillyGal - 51
23 Came for the Red Meat --- Gooserock - 50
24 Schmoochie Schwede! --- Debbie in ME - 48
25 Take a look at the reactions... --- STOP George - 47
26 CNY Family Cheers --- redlami - 47
27 I've heard your wife yell that loud... --- Gimmeliberty - 47
28 I feel like Homer Simpson. --- Lucius Vorenus - 44
29 Thank you for posting this --- hackwriter - 44
30 Smooch! --- Floja Roja - 44
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