plants

I Love a Good Story. Don’t you just Love a Good Story? Well, here is another good story.

Nature has always been an intriguing phenomenon to me. The birds know what to do and how to get what they need; the deer know whose yard has the best plants. Rabbits and squirrels seem to know when bad weather is coming and they prepare for it. Plants seem to know when and how to grow under various circumstances, and the rivers, streams, mountains and other forms of nature, such as weather, all seem to have some understanding about what to do. Some think that man and nature are very different. They are in that they are man and nature, but there are so many similarities, in fact, maybe more similarities than differences.

There is a tree in the backyard behind my backyard. We are separated by my fence. For the past several years, I’ve been keeping an eye on the tree because it has a branch that is bent and looks dead. Should the branch break off and fall, it will fall in my yard and more than likely do damage to what I call my storage house. While looking at the branch from my back deck, I was curious about how the branch became bent and dead- looking when the rest of the tree looked healthy and alive. The branch remained in that state the entire summer. When we had hard winds and rain, the branch held strong.

The next summer, I looked for the branch and saw that nothing much had changed. It was still there, attached to the tree, and still bent. My hope was the branch, since it held out over the winter, would become stronger and leaves would grow. But during that summer, leaves grew on the other parts of the tree, but not on the branch.

The third summer I looked for the branch but didn’t see it. I thought it had dropped off the tree. I looked all around in my yard, but did not see a branch. Many twigs had fallen in my backyard, but not a branch, and not the one I sought. While standing outside looking up at where the branch should have been, I noticed that the place on the tree where the branch lived was filled with leaves. I stood there looking and thinking. It’s possible that leaves can grow directly on the tree, or maybe these leaves are from the branch above my branch and the leaves are covering my branch. I was certain that the branch had died and what I saw had taken its place.

Needless to say, I was disappointed. I was rooting for my branch. I wanted it to live. At the beginning of fall, and the trees began to drop their leaves, I saw something I could not believe. My branch was still there. The bent and decaying branch was filled with luscious green leaves. As the leaves continued to drop, more of my branch was visible and I was sure it was the same branch. It was bent, but not in the same place. The branch had grown and now the part below the bent was longer. The bent branch was growing. How nice is that?

Even though I might have seen this before, I never thought about what I saw until I saw my limb. The limb was not just hanging on, though it was still bent. But the branch had gained back life and was growing. How? Possibly from the tree and the other limbs and leaves around it. This can be applied to humans. Just because there is a “bent” on the outside of a person does not mean that the person is not a person. What makes a person a person comes from what’s inside a person and the help and support of the people around them.

In my next novel, “A Change of Heart,” Esther, the main character, is troubled and suffering on the inside. While she suffers, she also grows through the new life she gives to a boy who has asked for her help. “A Change of Heart” is a gripping, intriguing and challenging story about how Esther helps her new friend by showing him how to forgive and how to lead a life free of hatred and anxiety. Through teaching him, Esther sees her value and finds her road to the life she was destined.

Just like the branch on my (yes, I now own it) tree, I need your help. When the novel is published and ready, I will let you know and will offer it to you. I ask you to please read it and tell me what you think.

So, now, isn’t this A Good Story? Please send me an email and let me know what you think.

Until next time.