I planted a tree...

I planted a tree in Switzerland--the fall before we left in November 1982. The tree had been growing in a pot in our apartment in the city. When we moved to the country I took the apple tree with me. The tree was about 8 or 9 inches tall--maybe a little taller--I had grown it from the seed of a cold storage apple. When we made the decision to return to the States I knew the tree's only chance of survival was for it to be planted in the earth. So one day in October 1982 I took the tree to a prime location on the Gonser farm in St. Brais, dug a hole, and put it in with appropriate water. We left after that to return to America. Sometimes I think about the apple tree and wonder if it survived. In all likelihood I will never know.

Thomas and I were in Switzerland for a month last August and I thought about the tree. But we didn't make it out to the farm--and it is questionable whether I could even remember where I planted it. So the apple tree remains that piece of the past that I wonder about.

We moved in our present home in Missouri in August 2006. That fall and a year later we planted a couple of redbuds. They have survived and seem to be flourishing. I wonder if we will be here long enough to see them bloom. Or will they be like the apple tree in Switzerland--a memory--something to wonder about.