MR. TREE, THE TERRIBLE

The house we rent, has a backyard. When we moved here, it was nothing more than a myriad of concrete and weeds. Winters are wet and dark in Melbourne, and I clearly remember how depressing it looked, especially with that lone bare tree extending its branches from the neighboring property to ours.

So the first chance we got, we set to work! 
We trimmed the bushes, we ripped out the weeds. We cleared the dead grass, we landscaped dirt patches. Slowly it transformed. From an eyesore to a piece of paradise.

Except, the bare tree.

It stood resilient as always, sullen and silent. In my head I named it “Mr Tree, the Terrible”. It reminded me of the weeping willow from Harry Potter. But, it belonged to the neighbors so it stayed.

With September, came the first hint of spring. The days started getting longer. The sun shone brighter in the sky. I saw flowers everywhere EXCEPT in my yard. It was a mid-spring morning while passing by glass doors to the backyard, I stopped dead in my tracks.

Mr Tree, the Terrible was gone!

In it’s place stood a majestic beauty, covered in tiny pink blooms! No leaves or anything. Just flowers; and lots and lots of them. From Mr Tree the Terrible to Miss Pretty the Pink; literally overnight.

I have lived in this house for a few years now. I can tell you how this magic works. Tiny spores appear on the tree’s branches towards the end of winter. These lead to minuscule little buds, so small that you hardly notice. But I know of them, because I’ve been paying attention. I know it will take weeks and weeks for the buds to come and just a night for them to bloom. I also know that the flowers will soon be gone, only to be replaced by lush green leaves. There will be fruit that follows and all manner of birds and rodents. The yard will be full of fresh and fallen leaves, whole and half eaten fruits and more kinds of gunk and poos that I care to count (not that I count poos in my spare time 🙅‍♀️)And then one day the fruits will be gone, the leaves will fall and all life will cease to exist. This tree will go back to being Mr Tree, the Terrible.

Such is nature.

The infinite cycle; Of Life and Death and Death and Life. Of Night to Day and Day to Night. Of Spring following Winter and Winter following Spring. Of tiny spores of change invisible to the eye. Of buds growing silently but surely on seemingly dead branches. And of waking one morning to find the bare tree gone and beauty of life taking its place. Alive and thriving. Pretty and pink.

But you know what? It’s important to pay attention. And it helps to remember that in every Mr Tree the Terrible lives Miss Pretty the Pink; waiting for JUST the right time to bloom 🍃🌺🍃

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P.S: for those wondering, it’s a Japanese Cherry blossom tree. The blooming of the pink flowers is celebrated in Japan as a welcome to spring. 💕