Trees for Phil

 

It's all about trees.

Though we talked about this a lot earlier in the class I still can't help but notice when trees pop up in my everyday life. This Sunday was my boyfriend's (or significant otter as Dr. Sexson puts it) 20th birthday. At a loss as to what to buy a college age Physics major I recalled how the two of us spent several days working in his back yard in Colorado planting a rose garden together. He enjoys landscaping and gardening so the project was fun despite the hours moving dirt, pulling weeds, and building a retaining wall. I remember a conversation we had while we were planting the roses about how much work his family had put in to their backyard (which by the way is beautiful landscaped). As a bit of a hick from the middle of the woods in Alaska I never realized how much effort people in the lower 48 put in to their yards and how expensive the whole process was. When his family moved in there was nothing but a dirt lot behind the house and since then they have planted numerous trees, bushes, and flower gardens. I was surprised to find out that if they had had this done professionally it would have cost over $100,000. Even doing the work themselves the trees cost a ridiculous amount of money (in my mind) because they grow so slowly. In this memory I found the perfect gift.
I decided to buy him a tree, not a full sized tree mind you, but a small one that he can keep it in a pot in his apartment through college. This way by the time he is old enough to buy a house and settle down the tree will be big enough to plant in the ground. This way instead of spending a ton of money on a mature tree he will already have one started. I let him help choose which kind and we decided on a walnut tree. I suggested a Laurel in honor of Daphne but found out they won't grow very well where he has interest in living.