The Tree

OK, so we have this tree in our backyard. I think everyone that sees the picture on the right, will know the tree I'm talking about. It is a true family tree. I have been married to Doug for 27 years this October and so I have become very familiar with this tree. I know Doug's siblings and their children who are all older than mine, have been familiar with this tree longer than I. It has been around for over 50 years. I think it is in most all the family photographs and videos. If pictures or videos were taken in the backyard, the tree is in them. People outside the family that come around the back always comment on the tree, especially during the summer when it looks like this. We are always asked,what kind of tree is it? Just so you know it's, a Fruitless Mulberry.

There is history with this tree. as it has stood there over the years, I wonder how many Easter egg hunts, pool parties, roadshow practices, church activities, big wheel races, pitching practice, tennis strokes and skateboard wipe outs it has witnessed. How many Gardner children and grandchildren have ventured up into the highest branchs all the while giving their mothers heart attacks. How many babies have been swung in the tire swing? How many blankets have been spread and tables set up on the grass under its shade, for picnics? And how many pinatas have been hung and smashed open while swinging from a branch of this tree? Lots of life has happened around it.

I bet most people don't know that this tree has a life of it's own, there is a cycle it goes through every year. I feel it is our Southern California way of actually tracking the seasons.

In the Spring, the tree shoots out little green leaf buds that grow out on long narrow branches. The branches reach up to 15 to 20 feet long by summertime. In late fall, the leaves turn bright yellow and eventually drop to the ground making a bight gold blanket underneath. Every year the leaves bring playing times, raking time and crunching time to the family. Leaves have been gathered and stacked for pretend food. Stacked in wagons to haul from on end of the yard to another, and piled on top of others for hiding places. Our family has coined the phrase,
"Leaf happens" because of this time of year.

Meanwhile back to the tree, when the last leaf falls all that is left are long narrow branches shooting out all over the tree. I'd guess there are about 200 of these branches left naked after the leaves are shed. Most people don't realize that those branches need to be cut off every year, to assure a nicely shaped tree for the following summer.

The tree is left in this stage for as long as possible, because the family knows what a pain it is to cut the branches off every year. The job calls for a chainsaw and a man. A dad, son, nephew or cousin will do. I don't think a female has ever cut the branches off the tree in the history of the cycle. Hum.

This part is aways an adventure for everyone involved. Exciting for the one wielding the chainsaw to balance on the branches cutting them down. Nerve racking for the people that love the chainsaw wielder as they watch them balancing on the branches to cut them down. And challenging for the kids below that love to watch the chainsaw wielder while staying clear of the falling branches that are being cut down!

Too soon the excitements over and we are unfortunately brought to the dreaded next step.

Yes seeing 200, 20 foot branches left all over the backyard brings us to the "the pain in the neck" time in the tree's cycle. We are so glad the "cutting down" stage is over and not looking forward to the job ahead, we are not real great about immediately picking up the branches after they are cut off.

So they lie around the yard for a while.

It is annoying to try work around them and walk over them, but we put up with the annoyance for a while, over having to face the work it will take to put them away. Meanwhile many kids have enjoyed creating many a Tepee by standing the long branches on end or enjoyed long distance sword fights or pretend fishing with extra long poles

Sooner or later we all run out of imagination or get sick of trapesing over the branches and decide to make a plan to venture into the next stage of the tree cycle.

I'm not sure why I despise this part of having the tree, but I do.

The process is madding really, you've got to gather all the very long branches into piles. Not that easy- as they are all tangled around each other and piled on top of each other. You pick up one end and try to find where it ends, only to find you have to pick up 14 other branches before you can actually get to the one you want.

Eventually, you do get them all into piles. The next part, I think would be easier if we were not so cheap and/or we had a truck we could skip it altogether,but we are and we don't, so that's reality.

The sticks stay in the piles until we get around to cutting them up short enough to put in to the green recycle cans. Of course we only have a limited amount of cans, so this takes several weeks to get rid of all the sticks. I'm always so relieved when they are all finally gone and the process of this stage is officially finished.

For the next several months the tree stands bare and nubby. People not familiar with the tree, seeing it in this stage, always have a hard time believing us when we tell them the tree will shoot out long branches full of beautiful green leaves again in the Spring.

This year was unique, it was decided that the tree needed to be cut back. Waaay back. It was too big and over grown. It hadn't been cut back in many years and it was past due. So not only were the long sticks cut off, but the huge ends of the tree branches were also cut off as well. These huge ends that were cut off were, well, really, really heavy. When we finally got around to loading them on to a truck, to take to the dump, some of the stumps took four men to move.

So now with the sticks and stumps hauled away, we are left with an, um, very ugly tree. Very.
It was bad. It made reason stare at the thought of it ever growing back again.

So the worry starts and you think, we killed it. We went too far, it's finished. How could anything that old and that stumpy ever renew it's self again? More importantly, am I going to have to look at that ugly tree outside forever.?" It stood there in the yard day after day like a petrified, amputated octopus.

It was awful. All we could do was wait. Wait and hope.

The days went by and every so often on our way out, we'd stop and look the tree over for any signs of life. There were no signs not even a hint.

Until one day... and several months later...

Doug came home, walked through the door and asked,"Did you see it?" "Did you see the tiny green buds on the tree?"

Unbelievable, but true. There were little green buds popping through that old 50 year old bark!

There was hope.

Since that day the little green buds have continued to pop out of the branches. They are sparse in some areas. We can tell that the tree won't be as full and beautiful this summer as in the past. But we think it will eventually catch up and get back to it's old self again.

It's funny how little things in your life can have such an impact on you. I didn't realize how much our life revolved around this backyard tree.

You know, if it had died, I would have really missed it.

-Susan