“Whoops, I Didn’t Think it Through”

I killed a tree some weeks back. By accident of course.

In the name of beautification I wanted to be rid of the grass and weeds at the base of the tree, then I was going to throw some bark around it…to make it all look nice and pretty.

So I thought the easiest way to do this would not be to dig out the weeds and grass as that would take far too much time and hard labour under the hot Australian sun, but instead…to poison them. So I did…and a week later…

Our neighbour Janina was so kind as to not rebuke me (although rebuking I emphatically deserved), but explained to me what had happened was the tree was unwell before I got to it, then when I sprayed the weed-killer it probably followed the root trail under the ground which was probably intertwined with the tree roots and that became the cause of death.

What did I learn from this unhappy event?

1. I didn’t think it through. Hey, I’m male! I didn’t think about where and how far the root of the grass travelled. We must think our decisions through and think about the after-effects of every decision we make!!

2. Short cuts will cut you short. It’s that old adage, “If it’s too good to be true, it’s too good to be true…” or “there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch…”. Short cuts will eventually ruin you. It may treat the symptoms but doesn’t fix the root cause.

3. Looks are deceiving. We can look good on the outside, but if our insides are a mess, then any circumstance that happens to us from the outside will project, enhance, or magnify what’s going on inside. When I say inside, I mean stuff like your finances (too much debt/not enough money), sour relationships, poor health, etc. It’s vital that our foundation is solid so we can withstand any poison that gets sprayed our way.

Finally, I’m sorry for killing the tree everyone….