Did you ever have to answer a question like the title of this post - what kind of tree would you be? I remember prompts like this in school, given, I suppose, to stimulate our imaginations. Regardless, I always wished to be, if I had to be a tree at all, a tall tree, kind of spindly, but graceful. Like the trees above, snapped in Bavaria 3 years ago.
During our last few years in Ecuador, we lived on a piece of property with lemon and avocado trees. And I soon decided that I'd prefer being a lemon tree. Did you know that they fruit and flower at the same time? I thought that so apt for my life - some ideas come to fruition, others are in flower, and others are mere buds. I like the cycle of a lemon tree.
When we moved back to Canada, I missed my lemon trees. Such good lemonade we made there, and guacamole was a regular after-school snack, made with our own avocados and lemons. Lemon pie, lemon squares, lemon everything!
Last Saturday Tim and I visited a local fruit tree grower because we're planning to put in some trees - apple, cherry and apricot. We were astounded to see that the grower had several lemon trees laden with fruit. He has a simple method for protecting the trees in the winter, and for sheltering them in the summer. We came home, Tim walked around the yard, did some figuring and started planning. We're going to grow lemons (I hope) in Canada! We'll let you know how that actually turns out. It's going to take awhile.
I didn't do a Friday Fill-in today, because I don't have time, and I wanted to tell you about the lemon tree. Then, as I painted a coat of pretty gray paint on the china cabinet after dinner, I thought, "I AM the Friday Fill-in!" I've been working in the school library for the past while, but tomorrow I'm filling in for Christian Perspectives, filling in for English 10 (To Kill a Mockingbird) and filling in for French 9 (a sports celebrity assignment).
To get back to the original question - what kind of a tree would you be? Or alternately, how are you filling in your Friday?
I remember this having to answer this question when I was in 7th grade and while I can't remember me answer then, I know I would answer a mimosa tree today! Seriously, I planned to get some photos this weekend since they are in bloom and gorgeous at the moment.
ReplyDeleteLucky you to live in Ecuador! It's on my list and I'm hoping we get to go there next year. Good luck with this lemon trees!
LEMON TREES AGAIN!?! I am so excited! Owen and I have been wondering about orange and lemon trees...Can't wait to hear how you are going to pull it off.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what kind of tree - maybe an Ash?
Counting the days...
What a fun surprise for you to find that you can have a lemon tree! It will probably always remind you of Ecuador too. You sound busy! Have a restful weekend!
ReplyDeleteI think I would want to be a sugar maple. I love the looks of maple trees and the usefulness of sugar maples.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to keep an eye on the lemon tree episode. I hope you are successful!
Way cool! I hope that it works out well for you to grow a lemon tree. Oh the things you'll make. Now if you can just grow some avocados.
ReplyDeleteI don't want to be a tree. I'd rather be a flower — an iris that grows more lovely with age.
What fun to be teaching TKaM. It's one of my favorite books.
Hello Lorrie,
ReplyDeleteLove your question! I would be a Blue Spruce! I love to live in the forest...besides a lake.
Gabriela
I don't even have to think about that one... a willow. They have always been my favorite.
ReplyDeleteThough, I will eat ANYTHING made from lemons! lol
Here in the Okanagan Valley, there is a company that sells citrus trees in tub. You keep them outside in the summer by your pool or wherever and they take them back in the winter and store them safely. Of course you are several zones warmer than we are here. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteWhat was his simple method of covering for the winter? I grow mine in pots and bring them in for winter and I live in Georgia. Surely his method would work here as well.
ReplyDeleteOh, a lemon tree I wouldn't mind!
ReplyDeleteLorrie - if I were a tree I'd love to be an Arbutus. there are such beautiful colours revealed as the bark peels away. I am amazed by all you are doing these days. Good luck with the lemon tree. It will be interesting to see where you plant it.
ReplyDeleteFunny...but I posted about tress today too. I know I would not like to be a 'dead' tree!
ReplyDeleteOf course I'd have to be a traditional English tree and think I'd choose the flowering chestnut. The blossoms are stunning, white or pink, and the conkers (fruits) were one of my childhood obsessions. Of course, not fighting with them on lengths of string as the boys did in their 'conker fights', just gathering them and feeling that smooth as silk shell and loving the exquisite color.
ReplyDeleteLemon trees, wow sounds amazing.........hope they do well.
Mary X
Oh my, I don't think it's possible to pick just one favourite for a tree... birch, oak, elm...
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw your lemon tree photo, oh, I'm thinking wouldn't it be lovely to be a beautiful fruit tree where people could come and pick your fruit and be satisfied.
But what about all those lovely flowering cherry and plum trees... they let the fragrance and beauty fill a dark corner of someone's world. I want to be that too.
When you mention missing the lemon trees from your time in Ecuador, it reminds me of the way the lemons tasted in the little town of El Limon, Venezuela, where I lived for 4 months after college many years ago.
Once in a very blue moon, I'll happen upon a lime at the grocery store that gives me just a hint of those lemons. And, what wonderful lemonade they made.
A big old shade tree with a swing on one of my branches, a fort high up the trunk, and a bench underneath for people to sit on.
ReplyDeleteI did not know that the lemon tree has buds and lemons going a the same time. How nice would that be to have lemons growing through the seasons! I hope you get that lemon tree and it does well.
ReplyDeleteI once did a study about citrus and the esrog citrus that is part of the Jewish autumn celebration. The entire citrus plant smells like citrus, and multiple generation are on the tree at once. There are some really cool spiritual insights to be gained by studying why God directed the citrus to be held as part of the Hebrews holy days.
ReplyDeleteInteresting question, Lorrie! I think I'd like to be a mighty oak tree as that is one of the symbols on my Celtic side's Shield of Arms. Plus I like they way the leaves turn in autumn--my favorite season.
ReplyDeleteIn my husband's home town in Italy there were so many lemon trees growing everywhere that the fruits would fall off and go to waste. I wished I could grow one here so I'd be very interested to see how you take care of yours. I am able to maintain a fig tree --it grows in a pot and I roll it into my garage and cover it with a quilt for winter. Good luck with your tree!