My Gingko Tree

The leaves of the gingko tree have always fascinated me. Unlike others, where the veins resemble branches, the veins fan out from a common base. Those who study plants say it is an example of one of the oldest plants on the earth. It is certainly different.

This interest started in grade 1 when we presented our leaf collection to the class. Mine was rather boring. I think I had a maple, an elm and a lilac. That’s all there were around our house, since it was in a rather new subdivision.

One of the students, brought in a wonderful collection, and among her specimens was the gingko leaf.

I had always wanted to have a gingko tree, so when I saw them on sale at the Home Depot a couple of years ago for just a few dollars, I bought a little sapling.

Rather than exposing my precious plant to the Canadian outdoors, we potted it and kept it inside during the winter.

During the first year it didn’t grow very much. Then the fall came and all of the leaves dropped off. My gingko had been reduced to a stick in the ground. It looked dead. For months it looked dead. Still, it was watered with care regularly.

Spring came and suddenly it sprouted a little leaf. By the end of the summer, it had almost doubled in size. Then the fall came once more and all of the leaves fell off. It looked dead once more. We watered it again regularly all winter.

Sure enough, when spring came, the new growth was greater than ever.

Are you facing tough times like the little gingko tree? Does it appear that nothing is happening in your life? This is the time that you have to keep watering yourself. You are not dead. You are just dormant. If you don’t feed yourself the things you need to survive, you will die so don’t give up.

Just like my gingko tree, as long as you keep feeding your life, it will sprout new growth in due time and your patience will have paid off. However, if you give up, nothing will happen.

Have courage, your spring is just around the corner.