Just one note about this. Trees do NOT make good baby gifts. It all started when we were given a Bradford Pear tree as a gift when The Geeky One was born.
A pretty tree. It grew quickly, just like The Geeky One…as is their wont. But Bradford Pear trees are snappy little things. At least the variety we had. They lose their branches in the slightest wind, snapping off to and fro. So we fought with this tree. Trimming branches. The sucker even got hit by lightening once….the tree was fine…except for a burn mark…the neighbor’s TV got fried. I was a bit concerned…it kind of creeped me out when it happened–seeing that it was The Geeky One’s tree–but he was a little guy then and standing right beside me, so it was all good.
As an aside…the tree is impossible to photograph very well. I’ve tried a million times. The photos don’t do it justice. At. All.
But I digress…
The early spring blossoms look like popcorn balls, don’t they? Okay, where was I. Oh, yes. The tree. So one day, about 5 or so years ago the neighbor’s little kids were playing on the very same wall that you see in the photograph. The wall is like a kid magnet! So the two little kids leave and not FIVE MINUTES later we hear this huge booming, cracking noise…we run outside and the tree is smashed, cracked, kurplunked, down in the middle of the road! 😯
I immediately get hysterical. Very surprising since I’m always calm and collected, just saying. Am I concerned about the two kids we almost murdered with our tree?? No. I’m positive this means that something dreadful has happened to The Geeky One!
I rush inside, and immediately start calling all around until I can get ahold of The Geeky One. Finally, after what seems like an eternity, I track him down. He’s okay. I make him swear to stay inside, don’t drive, wrap himself up in bubble wrap for the rest of the day… 🙄 ‘Cause, like I said, I’m always calm and collected.
The neighbors came over and helped saw and chop up that ‘ol tree. I was sad to see it go though, because, well we got it as baby gift when The Geeky One was born. It seemed sad and ominous. SO… to make one of my long stories longer…
That spring a shoot popped up from that very tree that had fallen. Actually quite a few suckers popped up. I made SuperGuy swear he would leave them alone. We picked the strongest looking one and left it to grow. Now we have our tree back. Sigh.
But, I’m just saying, giving a tree THAT MIGHT DIE is a terrible baby gift! End of story.
I will say it has the most adorable blossoms on it every spring though. Which is why I still allow it to grow, after all the heartache it has caused me! 😆
What a great story. I HAVE given trees as gifts before, but not as baby gifts. I’ll probably not do that again now that I realize that it’s kind of like giving a puppy — alot more strings attached than the giver may realize!
You could look at it as a positive.
The tree could be an example of how determined to survive and thrive as your son will be throughout his life. There may be down times, but he’ll always come back stronger than before.
Yes, I could look at it as positive…but I was too busy being “calm and collected” about the whole thing… :coffee2:
I got a bradford pear for mother’s day one year from my husband…and every year at mother’s day it blooms (here in northern Illinois) and I so love it! I believe it may be the most photographed item in my yard because it is breathtakingly beautiful, and equally stinky! I try to not get too close to photograph…cuz I can’t really tolerate the smell…but I so enjoy it…so perhaps trees are ok for Mother’s Day gifts?
I dunno…the pretty blossoms alone seem worth the trouble but I’m a sucker for anything that blooms. I’m getting really itchy to get into my garden again and really fix it up this year.
Great! Now you tell me! Pale Rider and I just sent a tree to his business partner for the birth of their new baby. Should we go dig it up? 😀
Giving anything that requires a 3′ deep hole roughly the size of a swimming pool as a gift to anyone, let alone new parents, is a TERRIBLE gift.
Just sayin’.
that’s a great story. i like the idea of a tree for a special occasion but maybe just not a birth of a baby. : )
Did you figure out why it just kerplunked down? It does have gorgeous flowers.
Brenda
Oh my gosh, that last photo is beautiful.
And I would have thought a tree would be a good gift, but in this light I guess not!
That is cool about getting a new tree out of it, but yeah, that’s kinda creepy about getting a tree as a baby gift when you put it that way!
We mothers think the most insane thoughts at times. And sometimes it really isn’t a good thing!
I love Bartlett Pear Trees, and this made me sad, too. sigh
Well, you could live here in Colorado where natural elements can happen in a heartbeat~a pear tree could be devoured by grasshoppers, eaten by deer, blown down by wind or killed due to 40 degree temp changes in ONE day or all of the above.
Loved the purple branch with ice picture and wow, like your hair longer.