We’ve always wanted an orchard. We’ve planted a lot of trees on the properties we have called home. We have left them all behind. Sometimes the new owners keep them and sometimes they chop them down. It’s a little sad.
Gene grafted this bud onto the cherry tree — for a better tasting fruit: You can see the graft.
Hubby dear is a little bit like Abraham in that sense, planting trees wherever he goes, often not staying to enjoy the fruits of those trees, but always leaving the place better than when we first got there.
The story goes that Abraham had to move often, but he dug wells and planted trees along the way, “leaving blessings for those he would never see.” (Setting the Stage, the World of Abraham, From the Book of Jubilees.)
Gene’s dad was a fruit breeder and developed many fruit patents. He passed away 7 years ago on April 6. We had about two dozen trees from his dad that we brought home after the funeral. They were our only inheritance — little seedlings in an old fruit crate, only about 15 inches high, some of his new test varieties. I cared for them and they grew and then I put them in large pots because I knew we would be moving from our home in Irvine.
This was my home in Irvine, some of Grandpa’s fruit trees are in the pots that line the driveway:
We got some fruit. In fact, the fruit on my header, Eve Out of The Garden, is a photo of one of those fruits. (it’s a nectarine)
When we moved up to northern California, we brought the trees. Gene planted them at the test site -where he had built a gasification project for the University of California. The trees are at the site. But not us. Hopefully someone has taken care of them, but I do feel kind of sad about Grandpa’s trees.
