Trees

Roca Milagro Residential Community site - Rovira Arriba, Panama

I have made my lists and checked them twice. I have printed out reports, maps, projections. I have packed my laptop. I have located and packed my passport. I have a supply of U.S. dollars. I am ready to head off to Panama again, to deal with my Roca Milagro project.

I feel guilty, though. Yes, it's a business trip, with a very hectic schedule. But I am leaving a house full of unpacked boxes for my wife and son to deal with, while I entertain clients and investors in Panama. Yes, I know, life isn't fair. I will have to make up for it all somehow, when I get back.

I am taking my laptop and my digital camera. Maybe, if I can organize my time well enough, I will get time to take some photographs and write some blog posts. I hope so.

My family and I made our last visit to our old home yesterday. There were lumps in throats and tears in eyes. Nearly fourteen years in one place. A long time. Lots of good memories, and even some not so good memories. All together, it was a slice of a sometimes too eventful life.

As it got darker outside, we strolled around the property and I remembered planting some of the trees that were now twenty or more feet tall. The Chestnut Tree, I transplanted from my parents' yard, something to remember them by. The Larch Tree, I planted because my mother often spoke of the Larches beside the river in Poland, where she grew up. The Tulip Tree found a home with me because I loved its large glossy leaves, and its tulip-shaped blossoms in the spring. It is a Carolinian tree, and I was afraid at first that our climate might be too cold for it. No problem. All the evergreens around the perimeter of the property protected it and it flourished. It will be 90 - 100 feet high one day. The Linden trees were reminders of my family's' time in Germany, where Lindens abound. The varieties of Locust trees were planted because I loved the thin, feathery leaves and the speckled shade they provided. The Dawn Redwood was planted because I thought a tree that would tower over 100 feet high would be just the thing, in one corner of the yard. I am going to miss those trees. They grew up with my son. They grew older with me.

Now I have a featureless back yard. No trees, no shrubs, no flowers. No room for more than perhaps a single tree and a few shrubs. Less work, though. More time for living.

And living is what I hope to do, for a long, long time. I want to enjoy my family, my work, my life.

And I will... all of those things. Occasionally, though, I think I just might drive back to our old home, cruise around the block, admire the natural beauty of it all, and remember.

Good memories.

In the meantime, there are lots of trees on our property in Panama, and I will enjoy those.