Transforming the Landscape

In 1987 when Al and I bought our home in Springville California, we were delighted with the prospect of living on nearly two acres of rural pasture land. Two acres sounded like a lot to me, having been a city person my whole life. A long driveway lined by eucalyptus trees led to the house which was set back from the main road.

 Most of the field in front of our ‘new’ home was covered with tall grass and weeds. We soon found out that foxtails were especially undesirable because of their pointed seeds that  worked their way in between the toes or into ears of our golden retrievers.

 Al soon developed a plan for that field however, that included a pond surrounded by oak trees, evergreens and shrubs. The eucalyptus trees and weeds would have to go!

When Al’s mom came to visit from Michigan, she and I gathered acorns from pre-existing valley oaks along the road and began planting them on our side of the field fence. Al was the one though who put in many hours of work planting the trees and shrubs and then setting up a drip irrigation system to keep everything watered.

Long before the pond was dug, we planted a young weeping willow tree...my request. Ponds and weeping willows went together in my mind! Every pond had to have at least one!

After we had lived there a few years, a neighbor was hired to help with the pond. Using a caterpillar tractor with a scoop, he dug a hole twelve feet deep, leaving dirt in the center for an island. A low dam was formed at one end of the pond; the weeping willow tree was at the other.

 With water supplied from an irrigation ditch that ran alongside the property and the help of one of the local kids who supplied some baby bass, Al’s plan began to take shape. When we received some cuttings of bald cypress trees in the mail one spring, they were planted along one edge of the pond.

 Although they were bare sticks, the cypress loved the water and began sending down roots which eventually grew into a gnarled mass called “knobby knees!”  The trees were unusual in that they grew tall and straight and looked like evergreens, but lost their needles in the winter.

Eventually the eucalyptus trees were removed along the driveway. They were replaced by valley oaks which had sprung up from acorns that we planted and also those deposited by woodpeckers abundant in the area. Al suggested that we name the “lane” leading up to the house, Oak Tree Lane.

Unless we were on vacation, he spent most of his weekends working outdoors. After retirement, landscaping our property became his main occupation. The fruit of his labor could be seen in the tall evergreens, the sturdy valley oaks, and the yellows, blues, pinks and purples of dozens of drought resistant plants dotting the landscape.

  Transforming the former dry pasture land into a place attractive to wildlife as well as to people was an ongoing process during the 30 years that we lived in Springville. Al’s continued effort and care made the difference.

The impact of continual, faithful service is also illustrated in the Bible story about Daniel, a Jewish exile living in Babylon. Daniel gained favor with King Darius, who appointed him as one of three chief administrators in the kingdom. However, jealous Babylonian leaders conspired against him by convincing King Darius to issue an irrevocable decree that for thirty days no one in the kingdom was to pray to anyone except the king.

            When Daniel continued his custom of praying to God three times a day, he was arrested. “So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, ‘May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!’” (Daniel 6:16 NIV)

And God did, in a miraculous way, by closing the mouths of the lions!

I wonder what kind of impact we could have on the world, if we prayed continually; if we sowed the seeds of faith, hope and love every day of our lives. Just as every acorn holds the promise of an oak tree, so every prayer, every good act done in love holds the promise of transformation.

May we “be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances…” and by doing so change the world around us. (1 Thessalonians 5:16 NIV)