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Archive for the ‘oak tree’ Category

My work puts me in front of many people who are asking life’s most basic questions: Who Am I? Why Am I Here? Where Am I Going? What Is This All About? I think most people who don’t do what I do, as a spiritualist minister and counselor, would be shocked at how similar everyone’s questions are to one another.  Recently I had an epiphany about this phenomenon. Almost all of us have the time to explore life’s deeper mysteries because of the fantastically prosperous world we live in. “What?” you’re thinking.  “Prosperous?” Yes, prosperous. We live in a fundamentally prosperous world. The evidence you need is as close as some family members. Only a few generations ago, people worked from sunrise to sunset, seven days a week. And they worked hard, physically. There were no Starbucks, no ‘fast food’, not to mention no cell phones and no internet. Trust me I am not in favor of returning to the ‘days of old’, on balance I like the world I live in today. I like the fact the people, in general, are working less and having more. That is certainly one of my primary definitions of prosperity.

Even though we complain about how ‘fast paced’ our lives are, they are filled with more things (more lunches with friends, more little league games, more family visits, more travel… etc) because we have more time on our hands than any generation before.

Our shared prosperity, in both time and money, however, comes not without a price.

The gift we have been given is the luxury of time. Precious time can be used to create, to enjoy, and to love. Instead of taking advantage of the gift of more time by creating a better world for ourselves and our families, by stopping to enjoy a beautiful sunset, or taking time to tell the people we most cherish that we ‘love’ them, we fill our time with extra things to do. It’s this focus on quantity and not quality that robs us of our ability to enjoy the extra time that our society affords us. And the time we haven’t filled with stuff… we fill with worry.

Whenever I am looking for an answer in my own life, I often look to nature to see how it handles the problem. One day while sitting in the park, I took notice of a large oak tree. I wondered how old it was and what stories it would tell, if it could. But, of course it can’t tell any stories because it is too busy ‘being’ a tree. Then my mind began to wonder… What would it be like to be that tree?

I live in a climate controlled environment (my house), I have the ability to be mobile when needed, my nutritional needs are met for me with little or no effort on my part, and I rest when I need to rest. Instead of spending all its time ‘being a tree, what if that tree had an ‘existential crisis’ and acted like most people I know… including myself. Just imagine what a tree goes through over the course of just one year.

The first thing you’d hear is “I have been standing here for God only knows how long!” “I ask you… did God give every living thing the ability to lie down and rest, except trees.” Every time a storm was gathering on the horizon, the tree would start waving its branches screaming “Oh my God! A storm is coming.” “What if its winds tear off all my leaves?” “What if I am struck by lightning?” “What will I do?” In mid-summer, the tree would be complaining to anyone that would listen about ‘how hot it is’ asking “Seriously, will it ever end?” By autumn the tree would be in outright panic. “I AM LOSING MY LEAVES!” “Don’t you get it? I get all my nutrition through my leaves. All of it people!” And by mid-winter the funk of the old oak tree would be in full bloom. “Fine, go in your warm home. I, on the other hand, cannot go anywhere because I have roots. I have to stay here no matter what.” A full sigh would be heard from that old oak tree. Then, the arrival of spring lifts the spirits of the old oak. The sun is shining brightly, the leaves are returning, the sap is flowing abundantly and life is good. Then once again a thunderstorm gathers on the horizon, and the old oak tree asks his most pondered question “A Thunderstorm. Hmmm.  Why do I keep creating these thunderstorms in my life? “Maybe I hate myself for being a tree.”

Of course trees don’t have these thoughts and emotions. They are anchored in a much deeper truth than most of us. The purpose of being a tree… is being a tree. Its life is fated to be spent exposed to the elements. Its only task is to grow and fill out completely, to catch as many rays of sunlight that are possible for it to catch, and to store valuable rain water in its root system. In just ‘being’ a tree, it provides a home for animals, and shade for people to enjoy. It even cleans our air- returning much needed oxygen to the world.  Like the tree, our purpose is fairly straight forward; be the best we can be. When you find yourself faced with life’s deeper questions, don’t ask ‘Why am I here?’ and then stop… start with that question. Ask God, the Universe or Spirit to show you how you can grow tall and full, spiritually, like the old oak tree.

The difference between most of us and the tree is; we worry that we will never find the answers we are looking for. We worry our leaves will go away and never come back. That single act of ‘worry’ stops us from being ‘who’ and ‘what’ we are. We worry so much ‘about life’ that we fail to ‘live life’. Life is an endless cycle of the seasons… friends come and go; we have good crops and bad crops; rainy seasons and droughts. Most of our experiences are just expressions of the cycles of life we all participate in.

Make a commitment today to take your life in a new direction. Jump fully into your own life. Own it. Own it ALL- the good, the bad, and the down-right ugly. Part of our nature is to want to tackle the big stuff first.  Imagine a 14 month old baby wanting to run a marathon. Heck, she can hardly stand without wobbling. Start with the easy stuff. Find an area of your life that you can easily make changes in. Then make the desired changes. Then, like the shampoo bottle says, rinse and repeat. Success breeds success. You’ll get so good at making positive changes in your own life; the big stuff will get taken care through the power of momentum alone.

Some people say they would like to be a teacher of others. Well, people will flock to you when they can see that you practice what you preach. And, nothing speaks louder than the results in your own life.  I hear others say that they want to “heal the world.” Jesus said (Luke 4:23) “Physician, heal thyself.” If you want to heal the world, you’ll have to heal your own world first.

I invite you to create a new experience in your life.

Don’t fritter away life’s precious moments being the ‘neurotic tree’ fussing about the natural cycle of things. Choose today to stop worrying and complaining about the weather, politics, money, the future, the past and all the other things that fill our idle conversations with subtle negativity.  We teach that we attract what we hold most firmly in our own minds; so fill the abundance of time in your life with thoughts of peace, gratitude and forgiveness. Who couldn’t use more of those qualities in their own life? I know I could.

If you are still enjoying your grandmother’s grandfather clock, you are looking at an old oak tree cut, carved and polished to a splendid veneer that never diminished with the years. At the hands of skilled artisans who had the passion for long clocks, the hard oak yielded its hardwood to become a thing of beauty.

Why the Oak for a Grandfather Clock?

The oak tree has been immortalized in many a poem, and these lines from the poem “An Oak Tree” expresses it all:

“Your Mighty Stature Sought by All

For Matters, Thousands, Big or Small

O’ You Magnificent Oak Tree.”

Ever since the Middle Ages, the oak has been valued for its hardness. This toughness repels bugs and fungal infestation because the tree is loaded with tannin. The beauty of its grain markings when it is sawn into quarters also makes it the most sought after hardwood for wall paneling and stately furniture. It is no wonder that a grandfather clock of great prize was made from the hardy oak tree.

One of the remaining old buildings with oak panels for ceilings is the celebrated 1857 Old Main building of Knox College. The Old Main building is a national landmark and a testament to the tireless efforts of Janet Greig Prost, the first female trustee of the board. Prost worked hard at her campaign to raise funds for the restoration of the building. She was able to raise the needed funds in 1932.

Such dedication to the preservation of a national landmark is equaled by everyone who owns an antique grandfather clock fashioned from the sturdy oak. With proper care and maintenance, this clock will go on, ticking and chiming at the appointed hour through the years, from one generation to the next.

The Long Case Clocks

The long case clock was so called because it stood 6 to 8 feet tall. It was not called a grandfather clock at this time. Instead, it earned the macabre nickname of ‘coffin’ clocks. The simple long case clock took various styles to cater to the different whims and tastes and took on the elaborate carved ornamentation.

The tall clocks at this time were made for royalty and nobility; hence, the workmanship was excellent. Soon these clocks became a fixture in most homes. But few have survived with the years as antiques go. A clock made by pioneering artisans the likes of Tompion and Nibb can fetch $500,000.

A clock also famous for its elaborate details is the tall clock attributed to Alexandre-Jean Oppenordt. He was cabinet-maker to King Louis XIV. The beautiful clock was fashioned from oak and walnut, embellished with enameled metal, glass, and gilt bronze mounts.

Before work on an exquisite clock starts, the blueprint is created – from designs to measurements. The clock is made from ready-cut panels of the oak tree and is hand-carved. The exquisite carvings on the bonnet and piedmont are carefully created using chisel, clamps, mallets, and knives. It is always a labor of love to create those beautiful tall clocks.

Usually the skill was handed down from father to son, and apprentices learned the craft through hardwork and persistence. As more artisans engaged in the trade, there was a growing demand for more carvers. Apprentices were trained to meet the exacting standards in the handling of the oak panels to the mechanisms that made the clock work.

Your Beloved Clock

The eloquence of your old grandfather clock will continue to enthrall you, and the spirit of the old oak tree will live into the next generation. If you are interested to know more about this type of tall clock, you can always get the information from books and from online sources. Perhaps you’d like to make your own grandfather clock from the reliable old oak tree?

Whenever we are working on a property distinguished by large, stately trees, we have to sometimes use very innovative landscaping strategies to protect tree roots. Structures built too closely to the trunks of trees require a certain amount of digging to be secured to the earth, and the sheer force of gravity will settle any structure of significant weight even further into the ground. To avoid damaging trees that may be hundreds of years old, we employee a variety of tree root protection strategies to ensure that tree roots are protected anytime we are laying stone work or foundation nearby.

A recent example of this occurred in River Oaks on a property where we were hired to perform a number of landscaping upgrades and new constructions. One of the new constructions that the homeowner requested we complete on this project was the creation of a new walkway that would encircle a portion of the front yard, cross over a primary walkway, and wind around the home to the back, where the swimming pool was located. This secondary walkway was a proposed new structure which would run underneath several very stately oak trees. To install it, we would need to utilize some very innovative and environmentally friendly stone work to ensure tree root protection.

The reason we have to be so careful is due to the way that tree roots grow. Roots fan out in all directions, and many of the larger ones run parallel to the surface of the earth, just underneath the ground. One of the things that stoneworkers must avoid at all costs is digging too deep into the ground with tools. Spades and other implements can cut a root deeply enough to kill it and severely injure, or even possibly kill, even the largest of trees. This represents a significant challenge to the landscaper, who typically digs down six inches, lays a concrete slab as a base, then sets the stones over this concrete and fixes them together with mortar. This simply could not be done on this project, because even if we had somehow avoided cutting into the tree roots, there would have been no way to protect them from the pressure of people walking over them and pressing a concrete slab directly down upon their surfaces. In order to fulfill our clients expectations, we would either have to landscape around the tree roots, or devise a strategy of securely laying stones far enough above the roots that they would be protected from the weight and pressure of human foot traffic.

After careful study of both the landscaping plan and the trees themselves, our designers came up with a plan that would protect tree roots and still create a very solid, sturdy walkway for people to travel on. First, we replaced standard digging implements with air and water tools known as an air space and hydrovac. These allowed us to remove a layer of dirt and water without destructive impact to the tree roots. Once we excavated to an appropriate depth, we laid down plastic rather than concrete, then custom cut each stone so precisely that the individual limestone blocks fit together seamlessly. To prevent them from slipping when people walked on them, we secured the edges of the flat blocks with just enough mortar to bind them together in much the same manner that glue would bind two pieces of wood.

This process both protected tree roots both during construction of the walkway and after completion of the walkway. There is no concrete slab pressing down on the tree roots, and the stones and surrounding earth absorb the weight of people traveling the walk way.

If you have been hesitating on moving forward on plans to renovate or recreate the landscape features surrounding your home because you are concerned about damage to your trees, please give us a call at (713) 827-2255 and schedule a free evaluation with one of our designers. We can explain in detail how we will protect tree roots and other indigenous vegetation while simultaneously adding an entirely new look to your property.