yes, there is a gardener...but he's not very good

Yes, I am the not so very good gardener. I'm aware that God loves a garden, and he created a garden and I am made in his image. However, I am a distracted gardener. One of the first things I planted when we moved to Indiana was two weeping willow trees. MKH found them at Lowe's for $10 and they were planted before we were completely unpacked.

I have been laughed at and ridiculed for planting two weeping willows because, as it is said, "they are messy trees" "they have invasive roots" and on and on the iron-clad logic goes. But, I like weeping willow trees and this may be my last garden so I'm going to have a weeping willow.

One of the weeping willows refuses to weep. We call it the "happy willow" because it's branches reach straight out and up to the sky and wave in the breezes and "clap their hands," as it were. That's okay with us.

Last year the weeping willow developed a big knot in its trunk about three feet from the ground. Now if I had been a good gardener I would have checked this out right away but I didn't. I didn't tend to my garden. I just speculated from a distance that this was a graft, it was an imperfection, it was....whatever..., what can you expect for $10 bucks from Lowe's. The tree was growing like crazy and looked great so I didn't worry about it.

The weeping willow started growing a great big limb just underneath this knot in the trunk and still I didn't inspect the tree. I just took my limb loppers out and lopped off the new big limb. This new section of the tree was quite big, maybe a fourth the size of the rest of the tree.

This spring the weeping willow has acted quite sick, the leaves have turned yellow, the leaves have been falling like it was ...well...fall. Finally I went out and took a look. Early in the weeping willow's life it's root system wasn't developed enough to withstand the strong breezes in our back yard so I put a stake in the ground and tied a string around the tree and onto the stake. The string had not allowed for rapid growth and was strangling the tree. The big knot was the tree trunk trying to grow up and past the string. The big branch that I cut off was the tree trying to go around the string. It wanted to grow but because I am a poor gardener it couldn't.

So now I've taken cuttings (little branches) off the weeping willow and put them in an old Folgers can to develop some roots. Once the cuttings developed roots (adventitious little suckers...literally) I took one of the cuttings outside and planted it right beside the original weeping willow. It seems to be doing fine so far. I'll let them stay there side by side until I see if the cutting is going to take.

Meanwhile the happy willow is as happy as ever. I wonder if I tied a string real tight around it's trunk if it would start weeping?

The lesson I learned is this: Take five lousy minutes to really look at something that doesn't seem right. This is true of weeping willows and everything else in the garden, also cars, motorcycles, kids, wives, employers, employees, etc. etc. You might save yourself a lot of tears.

the best grandson in the world..nonpareil

Recently because of Nathan Davenport and Brian Lowery I was introduced to an online magazine called RELEVANT.com. I haven't read their mission statement so I wonder if that's their goal, to be relevant, or if the name displays a bit of chest thumping because they are confident that they are indeed RELEVANT. Nothing wrong with that I guess.

When I was a kid I was a paper boy. I carried a newspaper called the Council Bluffs Nonpareil. I carried the paper for some years before I found out that the word "nonpareil" means "something of unequaled excellence." So whatever paper you might have carried when you were a kid it was nothing but a rag beside the "Nonpareil."

A few years ago there was a television station that called their programming, "must see TV." Other TV stations had programs that may have been of interest but they were strictly optional in comparison to "must see TV."

I understand this utter confidence in knowing what is the best. My grandson is a boy of unequaled excellence. He is the one on the left. He's only about 19 months old but he's the smartest little boy in the world. He's the best in making almost any animal sound you can name. He is the best at saying "yes" and pumping his little fist. He is the best at noticing and pointing out a bug, a dog, grandma and grandpa and many other important things. He's the best little boy in the restaurant and he is most excellent at sleeping in a big boy bed. He has the best blue eyes and smile. He is a little boy nonpareil.

Da Vinci and Crocodile Dundee

I've read a lot material on the Da Vinci Code, but I finally saw a program that I thought was the best. It reminded me of Crocodile Dundee. One of my favorite parts in the movie Crocodile Dundee (maybe everybody's favorite part) is when a street tough pulls a knife on Mick and his girlfriend and demands their money. Mick laughs and says, "That's not a knife." And then he pulls out his knife, which is enormous, and he says, "That's a knife." He then proceeds to slash the punk's jacket. What a great movie moment.

I read the Da Vinci Code two years ago and thought it was a pretty good read, aside from the obvious slams at the church. Then my wife and I went to Paris and while we were at the Louvre I thought it would be fun to videotape all the paintings Dan Brown mentioned in his book. While filming the first painting I could see how far-fetched his ideas were. There was no basis for his interpretation at all (in my opinion). I turned off the video camera. I had better things to film.

Two years later I'm amazed at how much press this book, and now the movie, is getting. One article I read was sort of a post-modern, story we find outselves in, it's all the Church's own fault because we aren't missional, bla bla bla kind of article. Some articles have been along the line of an overwrought Italian mother hysterically asking, "How could you do this?" A couple of articles in Christianity Today were pretty good.

MKH and I were watching the Discovery channel the other day and a program came on that totally destroyed Dan Brown and his "research." First they brought up one of the numerous conspiracies mentioned in his book and then they investigated it and proved it false, or a hoax, a lie, or pure fabrication. Then because Dan Brown wouldn't grant them an interview they kept showing a tape of him from another interview saying that everything in the book is fact. Then they would go on to debunk the next "fact" from his book.

That's not a knife (fact) Dan Brown, THIS is a KNIFE (FACT). It was just the best thing I'd seen for awhile.

I was a little disturbed by the "post modern" sounding article I read. Is there ever a time when someone or something is an enemy? We do have an enemy you know. Jesus called people white-washed tombs. He called his friend Peter "satan." Jesus turned over tables and called people a "brood of vipers." Paul said that he wished the Judaizers would just go "cut themselves off." There are those who present themselves to be wise, in the know, religious, pious who are false prophets and deceivers. Some people are not honest seekers after the truth. I wonder if Christians realize what kind of fight we're in at times. Sometimes you can't just drink a cup of coffee and dialogue with the enemy. Goddess worship will not help anyone. Some deceivers will lead people astray, maybe not you or me, but it will happen.

Even though it wasn't a "Christian" show I'm glad the Discovery channel aired a program that had the guts to say, "THIS is a KNIFE" and sliced up some falsehoods.