The Cherry Tree 6.16.21

James,

Grandma Gizzy and I are leaving Virginia next week to visit you in Boston and to hike Acadia National Park in Maine. When we see you, you will be 9 months old. And you will have changed much since we last saw you in April. 

Through videos with you and your parents, we have enjoyed watching you discover new and wonderful things, just as we are excited to discover and experience new things on our hiking trip in Maine. But wonderful discoveries can happen anywhere and anytime, just like the one I recently experienced on our farm. 

One day last week, when I was about to leave the farm after a busy day of chores, I noticed a small tree limb on the ground beneath one of the trees. This particular tree was very old and had been damaged by a major ice storm during the past winter and a major windstorm during the spring. As a result, it had lost some major limbs and had become quite gnarly. Because it was so damaged, we were considering cutting it down. 

As I walked over and reached down to pick up the small limb, I noticed something bright red on the ground. And then I noticed more. Were those cherries?  I was momentarily confused. Where could those have come from? And then it dawned on me. So, I slowly stood up and looked up into the tree branches and there, like so many beautiful orbs, were hundreds of bright red cherries nestled in the tree branches. They were absolutely gorgeous. This tree was a cherry tree! This old tree, battered and busted up, had not only survived, but had thrived.  This old tree, that we almost cut down, was creating beautiful fruit despite its appearance and age. 

I stood there for a moment overcome with gratitude that we had not cut down that old tree. As the only cherry tree on the farm, I understood it’s significance, and I experienced immense gratitude.  At that moment my perception of that old tree changed from being something that had no value to something that I needed to cherish and protect. After a few moments, I reached up and picked a cherry. After hesitating, I put it in my mouth.  It tasted both sweet and bitter. I picked another. And like a small child experiencing something for the first time, I kept picking and eating cherries, as excited as a kid in a candy store. I literally ran back into the house, grabbed a bowl, and filled it with cherries – cherries from our beautiful tree on our farm! I continue to enjoy those cherries every morning for breakfast. 

After a business trip, I returned to the farm to pick more cherries. They were gone. I am sure birds and other animals harvested the rest.  Next year, we will be ready to harvest many more and hope that our friend Jill, who makes delicious jams and jellies, will make cherry jam. And some day James, I hope you will join me under that old cherry tree picking cherries. And that we will enjoy cherry jam as we break bread together.

That old tree reminded me of an important lesson. Sometimes, if we are not careful, we can miss the gifts of others by focusing on what we see or on what we want to see, instead of doing the work to see the gifts and contributions that others can make.  With a little curiosity and patience, the beauty and gifts that lie just beneath the surface show themselves to us. That old tree has a lot of beauty and life left in it. And it has many gifts to share with you and me for many years to come. 

Love,

Papa Johnny