Apple Tree 2.0

To be sitting in the sun under my blossoming apple tree. While bees singing there swirling song above my head.

My grandfather planted six apple trees in the thirties. He was a creative man who put in hard work for whatever his visions were. When I was a little girl there were still three of grandpa’s trees in the garden in front of the little playhouse. My sister and I used to run in under them while airing the tiny rag rug and the table cloth from the play house on a branch we could reach. The bakers cottage was our summer house and we spent a great deal of the summers here, at the end of the road.

When I moved here and made myself a home in the main house, there was only one of my grandfather’s apple trees left. The tree has grown chasing the sun and following the winds which has made it crummy and out of balance. But it is the jewel of the garden. Shining the most when it’s covered by a cloud of white blossoms, starting to bloom one day and letting go of the first petals the day after. As the summer on the 64th latitude, the moment for joyful bliss is painfully short.

One winter morning some years ago, 2007 I think, I was standing in my bathroom brushing my teeth looking out the window. Seeing a sight I couldn’t take in. My precious apple tree was lying down. A foot of heavy snow had fallen over the night and my apple tree couldn’t take the weight of it. It fell over. It lied down in the same direction it had been growing for about 70 years.

I literary couldn't believe my eyes. I rubbed them. The tree was still lying down. I closed my eyes. Still lying down. I turned around, put the tooth brush away, washed my face. My apple tree was still lying down. A sad rest.

I don’t have words for how much I grieved that tree. And it became a symbol for myself. Life had been heavy on me for a long time, and with the apple tree forced giving up, I felt like I was finally lying down myself.

Spring came, and I could see there was life in my apple tree. Tiny leaves and flower bulbs peering towards the sun. On Trouble 2’s high school graduation day with extended family gathered, we raised the tree up. Dressed up in light summer clothes everybody put their shoulders and hands under the heavy crummy stems, and on a joint “go!” the apple tree left the ground where it had spent the winter.

For a year the tree was supported by wooden crosses on the ground. The leaves came out and the white flowers were found by the bees one more time. My tree looked a bit ragged and tired, but it was standing up again, and there was life in it. I was grateful and very happy.

I started making plans for my beloved apple tree. I was thinking the supporting crosses would be replaced by strong pillars carrying the three crummy stems. And I wanted a deck surrounding the base of the tree. Yes, we were talking a project! 

My back crashed really bad for the first time the following winter, then came cancer and then more back crashes. So now I was lying down finally. As to raise myself up I started project-leading The Comeback of the Apple Tree. Before, it was just an apple tree. Now, it was going to be so much more. Apple tree 2.0.

The deck was going to be round and quite big, kind of the same size as the crown of the tree. A place to sit on a hot day drinking ice tea with friends. The foundation for the deck would be granite, as the foundation for the house. I pictured it gorgeous!

Now, the most important talent for a project leader is pitching the idea and inspire whoever you need to get the job done. In this case my family. How did that go? Well, although they kind of liked the idea they weren’t as attracted to all the work they would need to put in to realize this cool new center piece in the garden. And that was before we found out we needed to cut every curved granite piece in both ends to get the right size of the round deck…

I remember lying on a sun bed summer 2009, bold, tired, nauseous  and with a body aching from chemo, listening to that special stone saw doing it’s job. Then directing the intricate pattern of the round deck taking shape from how the planks were connected to each other. Wouldn’t black be beautiful to the granite? Yes it would. And it is!

The pillars supporting the stem was the next challenge. It turned out it was impossible to make them stand in perfect right angles under the tree. Because the tree is constantly moving, surprise surprise! To me, who like a result as I pictured it, this is really annoying. From one angle of the garden it looks pretty good, but from a different one it seems like someone ended the job half finished. And this, I have to live with! Anyway, the pillars were painted white, quite dashing to the black deck and the granite.

It’s been some years now. There are tiny disco balls hanging in the tree, sending reflections of the sun all over the garden and into the kitchen, winter as summer. I love standing at the sink getting hit by them. Warm and sunny days I am putting cushions on the deck to make it extra welcoming and comfortable. Well, that’s not really true any more as I can’t bend forward, but in my mind I am doing it. And I am serving my special Arnold Palmer made out of licorice tea to anyone who comes through my white picket fence gate. Today my neighbors and cheery friends Jenny and Hannes joined me under the crummy stems, what a treat!

For a couple of brief days now my apple tree is swept in to a cloud of white blossom and bee song. I am sitting in under it soaking the sun, being grateful and happy about my Apple Tree 2.0. Trusting my grandfather watching from somewhere appreciating the creativity and hard work put into saving and upgrading it. Making the vision come true.