Friday, June 13, 2008
The Dogged Dogwood
The view from my window as I work at my computer is a dogwood tree that has withstood the test of time. By rights this tree should not be alive, let alone looking so good.
Years ago my roommate's blue heeler mix was in the chewing stage of puppyhood when a wind storm filled the back yard with limbs. That the storm happened just before my father's death meant I had higher priorities than removing the limbs. Andy explored like any puppy his age and decided the limbs were the best chew toys ever. When the limbs disappeared from the yard, Andy went in search of living wood and chewed this young tree to a stump. It gave new meaning to "dogwood."
The tree recovered, growing into a nicely shaped tree, if a bit off-center at its base. Decades later, you'd never suspect it had survived such severe pruning.
A few years ago, falling limbs from another windstorm stripped it of most of its upper branches. This time I was sure it wasn't going to survive and do well. But in a couple of seasons it had so many little starts trying to branch back that I asked my bonsai expert friend to come over and see if he could shape it. He did, and today it looks very respectable.
This dogwood stands as a testimony to the resiliency of life. At times we may be reduced to a "stump" and our branches may not look so good, but with time we can stand tall. I'd like to think I'm as dogged in my determination to persevere as this dogwood tree.
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