NATURE / TREES
Life Is A Mystery
Do we want to know what the future holds for us?
Cliché it is but really, life is a mystery. No-one knows what the future holds for us.
Try as we might to find answers to our questions regarding life and the future, clarity remains locked.
Some may consult seers, even turn to stars for answers, or divine the future by tea-leaf reading. But, alas, life’s mystery lingers. Even unfathomable.
Questions like, why did I not get the job despite my qualifications or, why did my business run aground when I worked 24/7 to make it successful.
Even more heart-breaking are questions like why your spouse left you for another or, why did my child die instead of me.
Life is a mystery, but not when one is patient.
A weird-looking tree
Over four months ago, my husband and I moved to a new property. It came with a lovely walled garden.
One tree in particular perplexed me, even made me anxious. It’s about 10 feet tall, the trunk and limbs gnarled and leathery, the leaves spikier than holly.
With several species of birds regularly visiting my garden (for food, drink, and bath), only blackbirds chill out in this weird tree.
I have plant-identifier apps on my mobile, but I found the identifications given for this weird tree conflicting. One even identified the mysterious tree as Oregon grape.
I did not believe it; grapes grow on vines, not on trees.
My quest to identify this old- and odd-looking tree, for months, stumped me.
When fungi grew on the trunk, I’d read that it is a sign that the tree is dying within. It was upsetting. A decision has to be made for the weird-looking, unidentified tree.
I discussed it with my husband while we were inspecting its heavily wrinkled limbs.
We agreed to have the tree dug up and removed. Since the trunk and limbs look dead and the presence of the fungi was bad news, it would be practical to get rid of the tree.
“I don’t even know what this tree is,” I kept saying mostly to the tree, as if it would answer me.
Mystery tree no more
Shortly after, my husband asked me if I have noticed the “mystery” tree growing.
I have not.
One uneasy look at the gnarled trunk and the jelly-like fungi growing below it was all I did. I did not bother inspecting its spiky leaves.
But surprisingly, it is growing. Flower buds are all over, and one or two have started to turn bright yellow.
And then I have the answer to what has bothered me for months: the tree is a mahonia.
Not that I am familiar with mahonias; I haven’t seen one in my life until now. But the flower buds were identified by the plant identifier apps, and confirmed by my further book and online research.
I got my answer, all right, but not immediately though. I have had to wait until the answer is ready.
In the fullness of time
It’s just like life when we get frustrated by its mystery, and not getting the answer to our questions when we want it.
Clarity comes in the fullness of time.
- Why did I not get the job when I have the right qualifications? Because you will get a good offer for a better job later.
- Why did my business run aground despite all my hard work? Because you need to learn more about the business, and meet the right people to guide you towards a successful venture.
- Why did my spouse leave me for another? Because s/he is the wrong one for you and in time, you will meet someone who is the antithesis of your former partner.
- Why did my child die instead of me? Because life has other plans for you that you will get to know when the time is ripe.
The mystery of life is not a puzzle that requires immediate answer to all our questions.
Often, we need patience.
We need resilience.
And we need hard resolve not to demand instant gratification in seeking clarity to the whys in life that frustrate us.
Like my frustration in not knowing what the weird tree is in our new garden, only to discover that this tree gives lemon yellow flowers in winter, and black-purple berries (like grapes) after it flowers.
As to the amber jelly fungi (also called witches’ butter) at the bottom of its trunk, it may look insidious according to Gardening Know How.
However, it is mostly a beneficial organism — unless there is an explosion of it on the tree.
So my question is solved. The mystery of the unknown tree is now known.
I shall look for ways to make my mahonia healthy so more birds would make it their hang-out.
No-one knows what the future holds of us — unless you’re a mahonia and you heard the humans that now own you that you would soon be dug up by the tree-removals people.
That is not going to happen to my mahonia anymore.
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