A Ginko Tree In The FAll

November 16, 2021

Reflections, Day 39

“Not that I want to be a god or a hero. Just to change into a tree, grow for ages, not hurt anyone.”
― Czeslaw Milosz

Today’s’ photo was sent to me by my father-in-law and good friend, Bob Hicks. Bob is an agile, bright, well-read and philosophical 95 (and eleven twelfths) years old. He tells me often that he loves my writing. I tell him that I love his daughter. It’s a win-win situation for me. Bob has owned a wooded property in Marietta and he has lived there for most of his adult life. It is a beautiful place.

Bob is proud of his trees. He sent me the picture today with a note that said, “This ginko tree was planted in February, 1974.”

The tree was planted 47 years ago and sited just right on the pond so that the yellow/gold leaves could be seen from the living room every fall.

Bob gets my morning writings via email and he rarely fails to reply with a poignant remark. The other day when I wrote about the ginko mini-forest and my plans for a bonsai planting to represent it, he told me another ginko story:

“There is a ginko tree on the Darlington Campus,” he wrote, “was given to them by maternal grandfather (Dr. Wicker) I remember being told that it was planted in 1907. It should be in its glory today. I haven’t seen it since the mid-seventies when Dekie was enrolled there.”

I haven’t ever seen the tree on the Darlington campus, but now I guess I’ll have to go find it.

Alberta Hight had me plant two matched ginkos in the reading garden behind the Rome-Floyd County Library. This would have been around 1988. I haven’t visited them for several years.

Wow, look at the generations involved in the planting of 4 ginko trees.

—john schulz

Photo by Bob Hicks