As long as the tree remains standing it will bloom again! – Laura Charles
I was walking to my classroom, when I saw some of the kindergarten class fall projects. I enjoy walking around the school and indulge in the different creative masterpieces of our students. This particular wall grabbed my attention. There were paintings of the changes of a tree during the 4 seasons. I had done something similar in the past with my first graders while I was student teaching.
One of my favorite science lessons taught that year was about the 4 seasons. I remember teaching the lesson in the fall, and then had the students track the different changes in nature that we experienced as the seasons changed. I would then have them paint the changes that the trees experience during the seasons. As I stood there staring at the very familiar paintings, it suddenly came to my mind that humans, just like trees experience some of those changes in their lives.
I went into a self reflection about which season I am currently experiencing and thought that I would share my reflection with you. Are you ready for a little science lesson?
123, eyes on me!
During the 4 seasons, trees go through a tremendous amount of change. Those changes are reflective of the weather. If you live in a tropical climate, you may have never experienced all 4 seasons. I myself, came to encounter the seasons, when I moved to Ga, and later on to Tennessee, where I saw snow for the very first time in my life. I was 18 years old! I’m always blown away by the changes that occur in nature during the 4 seasons. It wasn’t until this week that I realized that we go through some of those same changes as well.
Spring Growth
Spring is undoubtedly my favorite season. The weather starts to get warmer, trees begin to grow their leaves, and plants start to flower. I like to think of spring as the season of new beginnings. Whether it’s a career, the birth of a child, your upcoming wedding day, the launch of a business. It’s the season we all look forward to. This season is usually pretty exciting as new things come into fruition and you are in full bloom!
Summer Slow Down
As spring moves to summer, and daytime temperature highs increase, growth slows. This is why there isn’t such a significant changes in the tress during the summer. This is your every day season. Where there aren’t any exciting developments. You have settled into your routine. You wake up, go to work, look forward to Fridays, brunch and hangouts on the weekend. To start it all over again on Monday.
Falling Trees
Fall is the season where shifting begins. Trees go through drastic changes that can be seen in the different leaves colors. Warm fall days followed by cool nights combined with adequate soil moisture is the combination for stellar fall leaf displays. The leaves may look pretty in the fall, but the trees are slowly reducing their production of chlorophyll and the leaves start to change from their green colors to hues of reds and browns. Eventually, they start to fall off the trees. This is your testing season, your trial season. The season where you are forced out of your comfort zone, and you start going through critical life changes. This is where your marriage starts to get tested, your boss starts to push your nerves and you start to apply for every single job opening that you find. This is where you experience difficulties getting pregnant, and business starts to slow down. Where you start getting behind on some of your bills. The summer warmth is now gone, and you’re about to step into an even colder season.
Winter Dormancy
In the winter, leaves are dropped by a combination of gravity and wind. In this period all the leaves die, without exception. This is your dead period. That period where the situations that you thought would work out simply don’t. That problem in your marriage has now led you to a court room. That healthy pregnancy has ended in a still birth. You’ve been out of a job for so long that you had to move in with a relative. It is the end of a chapter that can no longer be revised.
Ms. Charles, where are we going with this lesson?
Okay, let’s wrap up. Here’s the takeaway! The leaves may all be dead and gone, but the tree still stands. The winter process is actually a must for a tree’s survival. How so? Put your thinking cap on!
In spring and summer, leaves convert sunlight into energy in a process we all know as photosynthesis. During that process, the trees lose so much water that when winter arrives, the trees are no longer able to get enough water to replace it. In the fall, trees begin their preparation for dormancy so they can survive through winter. In plain English, leaves fall off trees so that the trees can survive the winter.
After winter comes spring! It’s a cycle. As long as you remain standing, the seasons will pass. You may have to go through a season of dormancy where you will be stripped of all your leaves. But you have to hang on. Hang on as tight as you can! Soon enough spring will be here. The temperature will rise again, your roots will grow to find water again, chlorophyll production will resume. As long as the tree remains standing it will bloom again!
Laura
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