Like so many of you I find my self-imposed lockdown to be getting boring, but Barb and I are determined to see it through and hopefully still be healthy when it is over.

Tired of the TV offerings, I spend more time than usual looking out the window like a kid waiting for the rain to stop. And we’ve had a lot of rain. Fortunately there is plenty to see in my backyard so I can spend time thinking about the mysterious ways of life and what nature sometimes sends our way.

Part of my view is a huge shagbark hickory tree and it provides a neat stage for the squirrels to use as they perform their acrobatic antics. They put on quite a show, and it doesn’t hurt that they have a chorus of song birds to sing backup. Sometimes a pileated woodpecker shows up to steal the show. When he shows up I can almost hear Mel Blanc singing the Woody Woodpecker song. But I guess that shows my age, and my taste in cartoons.

As I marvel at the size of this magnificent hickory tree the present problem with the coronavirus is heavy on my mind. The tree is huge and the virus is tiny yet it has brought the world to a near standstill. There seems to be no clear estimate as to when it will all end, but nature is resilient and so are our doctors and scientists. A phrase I seem to remember from my Bible says it best, “This too shall pass.”

The resilience of nature was proved to me many years ago when Barb and I bought 67 acres of land that had been strip mined. This was in 1973 and the land consisted mostly of rocky shale and some small locust trees that had been planted in an attempt to satisfy the required reclamation. There was a stand of larger trees on one acre, such as wild cherry and a few hickories growing tall in one area. To some it might not have looked like much, but to us it was paradise.

It still however looked barren and I longed for more vegetation to make my land a special place to roam. Within a few years my prayers were answered and that bare, rocky land bounced back with gusto and we soon had too many trees.

Even worse, the early were the years when the government recommended planting multiflora rose bushes to provide food and cover for wildlife. What a mistake! That stuff quickly covered everything with their nasty thorns. Those thorns are shaped like fishhooks and once you push your way into a patch the roses grab you on the way out.

Now I think it is illegal to plant the darn things, but I still think the government brain who thought up that fiasco should have to run naked through a patch of multiflora rose bushes.

We lived on that land for over 30 years and were witness to the changes that took place with both the vegetation and the wildlife. I guess you could say that we were able to watch nature as it constantly changed. We watched trees grow and even saw a couple toppled by wind and lightning. But, still nature came back, and I feel that eventually this dreaded virus will be gone; probably killed by the natural rays of sun that we now need so badly.

But as I wait for my self-quarantine to end I have my big hickory tree to lift my soul whenever I feel a bit depressed. Perhaps you can do like me and marvel at the beauty of a tree in your backyard. Aren’t they amazing? I think Joyce Kilmer said it best, “Only God can make a tree.”

I am no Joyce Kilmer, nor am I even a poet, but maybe my words this week will touch you with a bit of peace. Take time to think of nature and think of your special loved ones as I think of my Aunt Kathleen.