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The
days are growing a little longer, and I contemplate the coming of spring, with
its promise of new growth, new beginnings, and, with work, an abundant harvest.
A
few days ago, the sun was out and it was time to prune my little apple
orchard. With newly sharpened and oiled pruners,
I ventured out, soon shedding my sweatshirt and enjoying the physical work and
the satisfaction of making the foundation for this year’s apple harvest.
I
pruned out the dead branches, the branches that crossed each other and rubbed
in the wind, and the few limbs that were diseased. Then I topped the scraggly branches that won’t
produce fruit. I didn’t hold back,
pruning and cutting with vigor, as I shaped the orchard into tidiness,
preparing the trees for a healthy summer of apple production.
Where
there was chaos, I brought order, and cleaned things up, making for a bountiful
year in this corner of our land.
A
nice pile of trimmings grew, bound for my friend, the fisherman, who welcomes
my annual gift of apple wood for his smoker.
One man’s discards are another man’s treasure.
As
I went about my work, I felt my shoulders twinge from this new work of muscles and
joints, gone soft from an idle winter in the house watching the cold rain
fall. The sun felt warm on my pale skin,
and I contemplated the smile of my friend as he thought of all the salmon he
could smoke with my gift.
There
will be many gifts from all the pruning: healthier apple trees, more apple pie
filling, apple butter, and cider for next winter, a springtime of trees loaded
with pink blossoms, and a summer of vigorous, healthy trees growing a new crop
of fruit.
My
friend will do his own magic with the prunings, and create mouth-watering
smoked fish, putting smiles on more faces.
There
were other lessons in the pruning; how cutting back, taking out our dead and
dying wood, and opening our branches to the bright sunshine will bring bigger,
juicier fruit to our lives.
Old
thoughts, and old ways of doing things need to be looked at, with newly
sharpened pruners in my hand. If I want
a vigorous tree to grow, or a bountiful harvest, I need to think of the pruning
that would move my life in the right direction.
The
young men in my life are pruning their orchards now, with newly sharpened tools
and a fresh determination to transform their lives. They are looking at their past, and their
dreams, and finding the directions they want to go. Dead wood and dis-ease are being cut away,
and their trees are being reshaped and thinned.
Only the vigorous branches remain, with the promise of abundant and
fertile blossoms to emerge in the springtime of their youth.
Old
ways of thinking are being evaluated.
New paths and fresh thinking are being explored, and they are moving
ahead; their minds always challenging and testing. Boys are turning into healthy, thoughtful
young men; the best type of crop to raise.
They
are learning about their emotions, finding names for feelings and thoughts,
figuring out how to live with themselves and with others as healthy young men,
with clear, focused minds.
I prune my apples
every year. I expect my young friends to
find their pruners and tree saws, too, and also tend to their orchards. My task
is to show them the way, teaching them to be good orchardists for their own
lives.
It
is a lifelong challenge, this living with one’s emotions and feelings. Like good farmers, they tend their fields and
pay attention to their crops, and weathering the storms that roll in, bringing
new challenges and opportunities.
They
say they learn from me, but I also learn from them. Their courage and determination reinvigorates
me, in my journey through this life.
They make me a better farmer, a better caretaker of my own orchard. Because of them, my harvest is more abundant
and sweeter.
--Neal Lemery 1/29/2016
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