Wishtree: An Encouraging Story About a Tree (which those of us in Cedar Rapids could really use)
Pretty snowfall covered the wounded land in our Cedar Rapids community this winter, temporarily hiding the bare dirt, root balls, fallen logs, and the ever present brush piles that have defined our landscape since August 10th, 2020. That was the day a devastating derecho (basically an inland hurricane) tore through our area.
As winter melted into the muds of March, all the ugly was visible once again, but only for a while; the hope of April could not be deterred by the mess. Soon signs of life began to emerge. Tiny shoots appeared on the ground. Trees began to bud. Before long, green exploded everywhere reclaiming the raw, barren areas, softening and covering the harshness of stumps, brush piles, and damaged limbs.
And then, as April snuck closer to May, the flowering trees awoke. Yes, trees! Apparently many of the smaller flowering trees had been able to duck under the derecho winds and survive the storm. After months of focusing on the devastating loss of trees (60-70% of the canopy), it was pure joy to drive around Cedar Rapids and be in awe of beautiful trees!
The derecho did indeed hit home for me just how much I love and value trees. God, in His wisdom, designed them to provide so much for us—shelter, fuel, paper, oxygen, shade, fruit, beauty, etc. In addition to all of that—or maybe because of all of that—they have a way of bonding communities together. We collectively enjoy their beauty and, as one, mourn their loss. Wishtree by Katherine Applegate is a story that captures beautifully the important role that trees play in a community. In this case, one tree in particular.
Wishtree by Katherine Applegate
The story is a tale of a Red Oak who has stood strong and proud for “two-hundred-sixteen rings.” Red, as he is called, is a loveable character as is his fiesty crow friend Bongo, and all the other animal “residents” living in his boughs and hollows. (Fun fact learned from this book: Skunks name themselves after good smelling things; Freshbakedbread, Rosepetal, Hotbutteredpopcorn, etc. and opossums name themselves after things they are afraid of; Flashlights, Bighairyspiders, etc.)
As Red observes, and even enters into the the goings-on of the people in his neighborhood, we join them all in a story of a deeply rooted tradition that binds the community together in a new way as friendship and understanding spring forth under Red’s towering canopy.
I began reading this book aloud to my three youngest boys, but one by one we got the teenagers and the dad caught up and they too became caught up in the story. I guess we were all in the mood for a book that celebrates trees, that special part of God’s creation that we in Cedar Rapids are not likely to take for granted anytime soon.
