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Journalism of Courage
Trees are the best. We had planted a Persian Lilac last year. It was just a long twig when we planted it. Now, a year later, it has a round canopy and has outgrown us, standing 12 feet tall. I am sure we can hang from it although I haven8217;t tried doing that for some time. The last I tried it was in the monsoons and the earth was wet. As I hung, the tree started tilting, so I let go. But now the bark at the base is as thick as a child8217;s thigh. I am sure it can take our weight. Perhaps I8217;ll try again this winter. The Persian Lilac sheds a lot. There8217;s a carpet of yellow leaves under it these days. I can8217;t wait for it to flower, come spring.
It seems to be competing with the banana which we also planted last year. We had gone to the P038;T office to pay a telephone bill and came across some trees there. The maali gave us one. Today it has made itself into three and a half trees. When it sprouts a new leaf, it stands straight and is a pleasing light green. The older leaves look like they have grown beards.
One morning we found a single strand of gossamer connecting the Persian Lilac to the banana, shining in the morning sun. It was obviously the handiwork of an ambitious spider although we couldn8217;t figure out how it would have managed to get from one tree to the other without breaking the strand. Ours is a rented place and we are likely to move out next year. The trees are like family but we8217;ll have to leave them behind. Break our strands with them. Or will ours stretch like the spider8217;s!
