In Pursuit of Wonder

April 22, 2024

All the ash trees in the pasture northeast of the house died last year; most likely from the combined stress of the emerald ash borer and the drought. My husband, Jesse, and our friend, Paul spent the winter cutting down the dead trees, burning the brush and sawing the wood for the stove to heat the house. I don’t know how many trees died in that pasture but the guys said they have cut down thirteen so far and there is more to take down. Saddened by the loss of the grand trees and thinking of the health of the land, Jesse purchased one hundred saplings to replace them. 

The saplings arrived a week and a half ago. Jesse asked if I would help him plant them last Sunday. I said yes, happy to be a part of it. I realized later that April holds earth day; how beautiful that we were contributing to earth day a week ago. Jesse chose red oak, swamp white oak, red maple, sugar maple, quaking aspen, and poplar. We wanted a few different types to have some variety and to have a combination of slow and fast growing trees. Other than being a bit breezy, last Sunday afternoon was perfect for hours outside. 

Jesse and Paul went out ahead of me. They had a couple more trees to cut down and brush to burn. But when Jesse was ready to get started with the planting he met me in the barn. Paul’s wife, Anne, was milking cows and wanted me to take their two year old son, Elijah. Jesse and I sat on the gator, loaded with our gear. (Of course my camera was included!) I pulled Elijah onto my lap, holding him tight with one arm and holding onto the gator with the other. I didn’t think about it beforehand, but how very cool that we were taking a toddler to plant trees. – To teach a child at such an early age to be a good steward of the land and to plant trees that you yourself may not live long enough to fully appreciate. 

The gator is so old it is comically slow for a motorized vehicle, but that’s good for giving rides to small children. We went down the gravel road, pulled off into the slight ditch and bumped along the pasture. Thirteen-lined ground squirrels, often called a streaky gopher, darted about, leaping into holes and popping out of others. We followed the contour of the hill, ending up on the far side, mostly protected from the wind but still in the sunshine. Paul busily cut the timber into chunks for firewood. Elijah and I waited for Jesse to carry the buckets saplings soaking in water to our starting point. He ambled back to the gator for the spade to dig the holes. Jesse did the hard task of digging the holes while Elijah and I put the trees into each. 

Somewhat surprisingly, I was able to keep Elijah interested fairly well. Perhaps it was the playing in the dirt that kept him engaged for a while. Sometimes he was more interested in what the guys were doing. Around digging the holes for me, Jesse gathered up sticks and small branches and burned them, and aided Paul. I held the sapling, no more than a thin stick with roots, in place and carefully pulled dirt back over the top, patting it down to hopefully remove air pockets from around the roots. The sod was thick so more often than not, I had to loosen the dirt from the grass roots to have enough soil to push back over the tree roots. I prayed over each sapling, whispering to it to grow and prosper. Both Jesse and I explained to Elijah several times what we were doing. Elijah stood over the hole, crumbling dirt in his tiny hands, laughing. He too, helped tuck the dirt in around the roots, enjoying the soft, black soil on his skin. 

Anne joined the work party with their nine month baby, Summer. She passed Summer to me and went to help Paul with piling the brush, cleaning up the area for planting. Summer made planting trees a bit slower and more interesting. I carried her in one hand, a sapling in the other, enticing Elijah to follow along. Arriving at an empty hole, I sat Summer down in the grass, thankful that she can sit on her own, but even so had her leaning on my leg as I knelt. I constantly had to stop putting dirt around the sapling to halt a fistful of grass or dirt from entering Summer’s mouth. A couple of times she got the grass all the way into her mouth before I could stop her, she spit it out and I removed the stubborn pieces. Though she won’t remember it was fun to have her out there and be a part of it, and have the learning experience of tasting the soil and grass. A few times, Elijah straddled a chunk of wood like he was riding a horse. 

Anne ordered take out from a local bar and grill and left to pick it up. When she returned we had a picnic in the pasture above our work area, taking in our efforts. I imagined what it will look like in years to come when the trees grow tall, wondering just how big they will get in my lifetime. I suggested to Paul and Anne that we should bring the kids out here every year and take a photo of them with the trees. It was an incredibly beautiful evening, we called it quits as the sun was setting. Jesse and I went back out the next morning to finish planting.

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