“Why would anyone plant catalpa (bean) and walnut trees in their back yard?” we asked when we saw the blossoms, beans, walnuts and stemmy leaves in our back yard. Just after we moved to 245 Union Street in April, the catalpa tree was ready to drop its blossoms. Later that summer the nine to eighteen inch beans occasionally dropped and with them catalpa worms (two or more inches long). The rest of the huge beans dropped throughout the fall and winter.
A black walnut, the other tree in the back yard kept a lilac from blooming and killed some eggplant and tomato plants that were just beyond the drip line (we thought) of the tree. We didn’t have time that fall to use the walnuts, so the leaves and the nuts were an additional nuisance.
We had two dirty trees in our back yard of our new home.
By the next spring, we were settled into our house. Neither the kitchen nor dining room had a good view. From the closed-in, but un-insulated porch we could see some flowerbeds, part of the garden and until the trees leafed out, the sunrise. Because the two trees leafed out late the sun warmed the porch. During the spring the porch was a pleasant place to eat lunch. As summer neared and the catalpa and walnut trees leafed out, they provided cooling shade for lunchtime or for times when we could sit and read. That fall, also, during our breakfast time the sun shone through the leafless trees to the unheated back porch. That fall the walnut drop seemed less of a problem because we found a man with a mechanical walnut huller who would hull our walnuts and buy the ones we didn’t want.
So, over time, we realized the ‘dirty trees’ were a blessing. During the spring, they leafed out later than other trees. In the fall, dropped their leaves earlier than most trees. But we enjoyed their shade during the summer. We might have had the trees cut down (as did the people who owned the house after we sold) but as first-time home owners we couldn’t afford it.
How often have I just seen ‘dirty trees’ when I looked at people or reacted to events in my life? Do I focus on beans, bugs and nuts (“dirt”) and miss the gift of shade? As I thought about our changing views of walnuts and catalpas, I thought about how I have responded to the trees based on first impressions/outward appearances. Do I do this with trees and people?
For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7 ESV)
Compost & Grace 