Trees Deserve Respect

The fig plant can be either a low-lying shrub or a tall tree.  They grow wild; or domesticated in the Mediterranean region and in California.  In Israel, the fig trees usually sprout buds in late spring; by the month of June (early summer) the tree is full of leaves; and in just a few more weeks, the figs are ready for picking.

My late father used to buy Nabisco Fig Newtons.  Rather than enjoying this tasty treat with a glass of milk, they were viewed from the corner of my eye as "questionable".  They didn't look like chocolate chip or oreo cookies (???).  Children are so silly.

As an adult, realizing that the fruit of the fig tree is not only delicious but gorgeous (especially the purple ones), any delightful dish served up that includes this fruit will never again be refused.

• You can learn more about the ficus plant at PlanetFig.com

Throughout history trees have been used to represent kings and rulers, wealth and power. The chart below is a quick list of certain trees and their symbolic meaning for certain civilizations.

Learning about trees really makes a person aware of how special the planet is that we live on.  The results of the research of my first study was published a few years back but the material is now unpublished.  The article was titled:  "Is Tree Sitting Really Necessary?"  Below is an excerpt.

Tree Sitting

Tree sitting is when a protester sits in a tree, to protect it from being cut down. It is an act of civil disobedience that sometimes results in forcible removal of the protestor from the tree. Zacchaeus was not a tree sitter. This article only briefly touches upon an arbitrary selection of a few trees mentioned in the Bible, and one legend created around a Bible story.

The famed cedars of Lebanon were not included because by the sixth century A.D., most of the beautiful groves had been destroyed and these days only a precious few remain. But hopefully this subjective medley, in a roundabout way, made it apparent that trees don’t just provide creature comforts and they’re not just the stuff of bible stories and legends.

Trees are of critical importance to our environment. The urgency of preserving, maintaining and cultivating trees can not be overstated or simplified. So heed the words of environmental activists and don’t be so quick to have them hauled off by hired tree-sit extractors. All the trees on our planet are “trees of life” and they can all contribute to healing the world.

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