Jo and the Pine

Somewhere around here there is a town where each child has a tree. A child named Jo lives in this town. Jo’s tree is a pine tree.

One day, strolling around the neighborhood, Jo glanced into a neighbor’s yard. The child who lived there had a maple tree. Jo admired the maple leaves. Its leaves had turned yellow, orange, red, or purple. Jo saw the neighbor child jumping on piles made of crunchy fallen maple leaves. 

‘I wish I could have fun like that at home,’ Jo thought.

It was autumn, so Jo waited for the pine tree to change, like the maple tree had changed. Jo asked the pine tree for colorful leaves that would later fall into crunchy heaps. 

‘Many trees have brightly colored leaves that fall in the fall. Mine should too,’ Jo said softly.

Jo waited and waited, patiently. But autumn came and went, and there was no change in the pine’s evergreen needles.

That winter, Jo visited a friend. The tree in this friend’s home was an oak tree. It had massive, sturdy branches good for climbing. Jo had a great time going up this friend’s tree, from branch to branch, until reaching a high point from where Jo could see far away in the distance. From up there, Jo could see many different yards with all kinds of trees. But Jo’s pine tree did not have branches Jo could climb.

‘Why can’t I have a tree with branches I could climb?’ Jo yelled.

Angry, Jo started hitting, punching, and kicking the pine tree. But as much as Jo complained, threatened, and fought with the tree, it still did not grow branches Jo could climb.

Spring came, and Jo was invited to another friend’s home. There Jo met this friend’s magnolia tree. It had large, fragrant white flowers. Jo enjoyed smelling the beautiful flowers and making awesome bouquets.

Coming home to the pine tree, Jo started bargaining for the pine tree to produce flowers.

‘Come on, tree, just make any flower at all, even if they are not magnolias,’ Jo pleaded.

Jo even dared the pine tree to produce flowers. But bargaining, pleading, and challenging the tree did not work. The pine tree kept producing pine scent, not flowers or floral perfume.

Spring turned to summer, and Jo went to spend the day at another child’s home. This child’s tree was an apple tree. Many red delicious apples hung and fell from its branches. Jo snacked on fresh apples, savoring the sweet taste of the fruit. With lunch, Jo drank some refreshing apple juice, and at dinnertime Jo enjoyed a yummy slice of apple pie for dessert.

Back home to the pine tree, Jo asked the pine tree for fruit. But the pine tree had pine cones instead of apples.

‘Poor me, I can’t get fruit from my tree,’ Jo cried.

‘I can’t eat pine cones. I want fruit,’ said Jo sadly.

Jo felt very unhappy, and was crying under the pine tree when it happened. Something wet plopped on Jo’s left shoe. 

‘Bird droppings, just what I needed now!,’ whined Jo sarcastically.

Looking up, Jo saw a bird in a nest, perched right over Jo’s head. Jo noticed that the nest seemed made out of leaves from maple trees, twigs from oak trees, and pieces of old flower petals and fruits, as well as needles from pine trees.

A light went on in Jo’s head.  ‘I see! I get it now! I have struggled to make my pine tree give me what it cannot give. I didn’t want to accept that it will never have colorful leaves, so I kept asking. Then I got angry at my pine tree for not having climbing branches. I bargained for flowers, and cried over not having fruit. Still, my pine tree has remained the same, and I am miserable. I figure I’ll do like this bird, and just go get elsewhere what I want,’ said Jo, as if inspired.

Jo learned to accept the pine tree as a pine tree. Jo visited neighbors and friends when wanting to jump on piles of leaves, to climb up high to see far away, to smell floral scent, or to eat sweet fruit.

And Jo came to appreciate what the pine tree could offer. No piles of crunchy leaves, but a cool shade all year long. No climbing branches, but needle branches to make garlands and wreaths. No beautiful flowers, but exquisite pine fragrance. No tasty apples for eating, but woody pine cones for playing.

Jo’s pine tree did not change, but Jo a great life lesson learned.