In the book The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein, the narrator tells the story of a boy and his friendship with a tree, the Giving Tree. The story details the various stages of the boy’s life, from boyhood to old age, and the development of his relationship with the Giving Tree as he gets older. As the boy progresses through life, he always seems to return to the tree, and even if he is gone for long periods of time, the tree gives the boy everything he needs, from his branches to swing from to his trunk to construct a boat to sail away in. When the boy is no longer a boy and instead, is an old man, he yet again returns to the tree:
And after a long time the boy came back again.
-”I am sorry” sighed the tree. “I wish that I could give you something… but I have nothing left. I am just an old stump. I am sorry…”
–”I don’t need very much now,” said the boy. “Just a quiet place to sit and rest. I am very tired.”
–”Well,” said the tree, straightening herself up as much as she could, “well, an old stump is good for sitting and resting. Come, Boy, sit down… sit down and rest.”
And the boy did.
And the tree was happy…
When I discovered my reflection spot, my thoughts immediately went to The Giving Tree. In my reflection spot, I found my Giving Tree. After a long week of stress and school work, I found a quiet place to sit and rest. The tree stump on the other side of the lake is not a newly discovered spot for me; it’s a place I’ve ventured to a few times before, when I need a study break during finals, when I need to rest after running laps around the lake, when I need to be alone with my journal and my thoughts.
Today the view from my spot was a new one. Never before had I sat in the spot with snow melting beneath my feet, with the remnants of frozen water hugging the edges of the lake. As I felt my fingers go numb, my mind wandered to our chilly adventure on the Gambles Mill Trail. It seems as though every time we have our Earth Lodge class, I am reminded of my lack of awareness of my surroundings, I discover something I never knew existed. I run down Gambles Mill Trail almost every time I go for a run and I had no idea that the trail I use so often was Gambles Mill. Yes, there are quite a few things I had noticed on my countless runs down that trail, such as the development of the community garden, the contrast between the golf course and the overgrown side, and the seismographic (although I had no idea what it was). However, there are many things that I, so caught in my thoughts, had never noticed before, such as the creek running parallel with the path, the swales, and the logs that had been cut down. I had no idea what the community garden was, what the trail had been used for, that the trail was so important. It really struck me that there was so much more to the trail that I was using simply to add a little more mileage to my runs. While being reminded of my naiveté is not my favorite thing in the world, it’s vital for my growth as a person. Earth Lodge class has reminded me of the importance of being knowledgeable about my surroundings and has begun to inspire me to explore that knowledge and not take my location for granted.
