Under normal circumstances, as in long before Covid-19 was a thing, our family always loved to go to the Earth Day Fair.

The kids love the crafts, the stations to explore things, and free plants (local trees and bushes). There would be belly dancers, drumming, and bird shows. Typically, the ground was wet and muddy from the rain. It is April after all. Sometimes it rained while we were there.

Then came Covid. I am not sure if things are yet back to normal, but since I have asthma and other health issues, crowds are not my jam in any way.

I never knew before this month that April is actually considered Earth Month. Instead of celebrating our Earth on a single day, we celebrate her for the entire month.

Like many other ‘months’, I feel Earth should be celebrated every day since we live here.

I can only do what I can do. I know there are so many other people out on this planet who do not have the ability to think much past the next meal, or try to stay out of X or Y or whatever. Poverty is a thing and it is rampant.

So, I do what I can.

We plant our gardens. We plant flowers. We have planted bushes. I accidentally planted a tree because the woman giving out the free local trees and bushes at the Earth Day Fair swore up and down what she was giving me was a bush and it would never grow more than five feet tall.

She gave me a tree. I planted it in a bed close to the house. We keep cutting it back. It’s been over 10 feet tall before. My husband is still grumpy about that thing.

My favorite example of helping the plants and trees on our property that I have is something I know bothers some of the neighbors.

We have a crab apple tree, or some sort of persimmon tree; I just call it the crab apple tree. It grows in our front yard.

A few years ago, we were having such warm temperatures during the winter that the tree would start to bud. After a couple seasons of it being too warm and then it’s too cold, the tree no longer had any idea when to bud and flower in the spring. Half of her might bud out sometime before summer, but overall, she looked as if she were dying.

We were discussing having to cut her down.

I happened to say she just needed another tree around to make her feel better.

Have you ever read the book — or seen the documentary—the Secret Life of Trees? I won’t spoil it, but basically, trees need companions as well.

The birds heard this (apparently) and brought my crab apple a tree. Some tree started to grow around the crab apples trunk. It turns out, it’s a cigar tree. I think it’s been growing there for about three years now. She is nearly as tall as the crab apple. Since the first year that cigar tree has been there, the crab apple has done a 180. She is healthy. She is growing and flourishing. The squirrels love the two trees together.

So, we leave the two of them growing together in the front yard, both as happy as could be. Both are currently in need of a trim so my son can get to his basketball hoop.

And that is my story for the day.

I hope you enjoyed it.