Tags
Advent, blogging101, GLADvent 2016, Journaling, Quotes, Reflections, Uncategorized, Writing 101, Writing Prompts
December 22
Plants
The clearest way into the universe is through a forest wilderness. (John Muir)
`
Well leave it to John Muir to feel that way about forests! And that’s such a good segue from the previous post to this one. It’s all about the trees…
I have always wanted a Star Pine tree. I thought it would be cool to keep it in the TV room downstairs and decorate it come Christmas. I assumed it would give off that heavenly pine scent. But you know how I was talking yesterday about how you can’t judge a person by their clothing? Well, turns out you can’t judge a tree by its looks either! You see a Star Pine tree is NOT a pine tree after all! And in truth, as they grow and get taller they can grow out of that piney look altogether.
Araucaria heterophylla (synonym A. excelsa) is a member of the ancient and now disjointly distributed family Araucariaceae. … It is sometimes called a star pine, triangle tree or living Christmas tree, due to its symmetrical shape as a sapling, although it is not a true pine. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Araucaria_heterophylla)
`
So I guess this is just a reiteration of yesterday’s post. Maybe since the subject came up twice this is THE important lesson I’m supposed to learn this year! I think it’s a BIG lesson given what’s going on in the political situations around the world… Maybe it’s time we ask ourselves what we see when we look at the pictures of immigrants plastered all over the news? Do we see a person or a problem?
Persons or Problems?
`
`
Picture Source:
Stocking — Harula
Star Pine — Dave’s Garden
Immigrants — Wall Street Journal
Impromptu Promptlings 
I just hope that we don’t keep putting people in boxes that we can close the lid on. I think Woody Guthrie summed that up with his song Deportee. The immigrants were brought in as cheap labour and deported home when no longer of use. When the plane crashed they were fobbed off as just deportees. Woody wanted to name each and every one of them.
Deportee
(aka. “Plane Wreck at Los Gatos”)
Words by Woody Guthrie, Music by Martin Hoffman
The crops are all in and the peaches are rott’ning,
The oranges piled in their creosote dumps;
They’re flying ’em back to the Mexican border
To pay all their money to wade back again
Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye, Rosalita,
Adios mis amigos, Jesus y Maria;
You won’t have your names when you ride the big airplane,
All they will call you will be “deportees”
My father’s own father, he waded that river,
They took all the money he made in his life;
My brothers and sisters come working the fruit trees,
And they rode the truck till they took down and died.
Some of us are illegal, and some are not wanted,
Our work contract’s out and we have to move on;
Six hundred miles to that Mexican border,
They chase us like outlaws, like rustlers, like thieves.
We died in your hills, we died in your deserts,
We died in your valleys and died on your plains.
We died ‘neath your trees and we died in your bushes,
Both sides of the river, we died just the same.
The sky plane caught fire over Los Gatos Canyon,
A fireball of lightning, and shook all our hills,
Who are all these friends, all scattered like dry leaves?
The radio says, “They are just deportees”
Is this the best way we can grow our big orchards?
Is this the best way we can grow our good fruit?
To fall like dry leaves to rot on my topsoil
And be called by no name except “deportees”?
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s a really sad song. I bet it’s been a good long time since he wrote it, and nothing has changed, has it, Opher…
LikeLike
Your star pine looks lovely – I can see why it’s called that by the shape at the top.
I live in hope that the oming year will open hearts and minds to seeing each other as one big extended family.
LikeLiked by 1 person