Edward the tree

Someone planted a row of infant trees in front of the Diamond Shamrock, corner of Shepherd and 11th.  I cannot remember whether or not there had been trees there before the hurricane.  Perhaps this is a beautification project of sorts, a courageous attempt to counteract the oversized asphalt parking lot and its encroaching tide of fast food litter.

I hadn't noticed the trees until I caught sight of Edward, standing by the bus stop.  All skinny trunk, with a mop of green leaves and two budding branches, it was the only sapling that was taller than a foot. 

It's not easy to be a tree, especially when you are left to fend for yourself on a narrow band of mangy strip-mall grass, at the mercy of the next draught.   Drunks might mistake you for a urinal or their long-lost mother.  Children might bend your trunk.  Adolescents might carve you to death.  You might succumb to frost or accidental mowing.  You might be attacked by beetles, snacked upon by a rogue woodpecker, sacrified for the sake of cable.  You might choke on gasoline fumes long before your first birthday.  And unless you root, and quick, you'll never make it to August. 

You'll end up a stick in the mud.  No one will remember your once tender leaves.

Unless you were named perhaps (Edward?) and photographed, and your progress chronicled in an occasional blog.  Who knows?  Like those mysterious prayer chains that are meant to work from afar, our combined awareness might give you just the half-cup of hope you need to thrive.

Let's root for little Ed everybody!

Comments

[Stan]

go edward go...in fact I honor all the sticks in the mud out there that they may prosper, grow, and become the trees that they were destined to be......go mother nature, go....thanks

[mary scheps]

I "have" a cat named Edward named after the Twilight vampire--he has yellow eyes and he is one of 7 "feral" cats we have had neutered who feed at our house every day.
I love the idea of naming this tree. 2 or 3 times a week enroute to my mother's assisted living home I will pass by his grassy spot and will send him waves of love. In summer if he looks thirsty I will water him.-- Wiith you I will watch him take root and become a big flourishing, nourishing tree. Marie-Pierre, I heard your voice reading the words to this piece. I liked it a lot. Thanks. 4/14/09

[your daughter]

I think we should get an update on Edward.