Where To Plant That Tree?

The Orkneys lie due north of Scotland, small islands scattered across the sea. It is the kind of place where neighbors look out for one another. Leaving their houses unlocked in case a neighbor needs to borrow a cup of sugar and they aren't there. 

For a time, their young people left for college and did not return. Because of connections via the internet. young adults now are returning and the population is increasing.  It is a good place to live and to raise children - with accessibility to the global world just a click of a computer key. It is like "having your cake and eating it too." 

The largest island, Mainland, is an archeologist's dream, sometimes called the Egypt of the North. The downside is the winter wind, limiting research to the summer months!  The mysterious Ring of Brodgar, a large ring of tall standing stones, is older than Stonehenge. And ruins of early dwellings indicate that the Orkneys have been continuously occupied since Neolithic times.

It is hard to determine where to plant a tree with the wind continuously scouring the rocky land. But  contemporary inhabitants have devised an ingenious method. In autumn a farmer will walk the land with a supply of sticks about a meter long and red strips of cloth. When the farmer finds a likely place, the  farmer drives a stake into the ground and ties a red flag on it.  

In the spring, the farmer will again walk the land. Some stakes will have been completely blown away and no sign of them remains. Others will have survived - a bit tattered but still there. It is these places where a tree has a chance to survive until it is large enough to challenge the wind.

There is a metaphor for all of us from these remote islands. So much needs to be done in our country and world today. One person can't do it all. Thus, we have to pick and choose where to spend our energy. We need to walk our land and plant stakes with red flags and see which ones survive the turmoil.

Is it climate change that you feel passion about? Sexual harassment? The many refugee crises? A Congress which seems incapable of constructive action? Tax reform? Care of neglected and abused senior citizens in nursing homes? Racial prejudice and bias? Dialogue among religions? Educational inequality? The proliferation of automatic weapons?

Are you free to travel to other countries? Or are you limited to your immediate community because of work or financial constraints? Do you have health issues that limit your energy?  Do you want to provide an intense effort for short periods of time - or do you want to do something at a slower and continuous pace? Or both?

Now about those stakes with red flags.

As you read this essay, are you saying to yourself that you are only one person and thus can't make any difference? Then remember the election this past week. Lots of persons turned out to vote and the result is change across the country.

Pound in your stakes. See which one's get blown away by winter wind - and which ones remain. Those are your best places to make your voice heard!

Go plant your trees!