I moved out of my parents house when I was 19. They weren’t very happy about it and weren’t ready to let go. To thank them for preparing me for adulthood and to ease their pain I decided to plant an oak tree in their back yard. I went to a nursery and picked out a bare root tree that was only about 2 inches thick. Over the years the tree grew tall and is more than 2 feet thick in the trunk.
Last summer I had to hire a tree company to come give it a good pruning. The branches were sagging into the power lines and becoming dangerous. I collected some of the thicker branches and asked my friend Martin at Conrad Frank Arts to turn them into bowls. He told me I would need to be patient as the wood needed to dry out and season.
A couple of months ago he brought over the finished pieces. They are exquisite and an appropriate way to honor the tree and the memory of leaving home.
I decided to use them as vessels to hold flowers and greenery that I cut from the garden. They remind me of the way a tree that falls in the forest eventually breaks down and nurtures new life.
