Musings from the Ozone

As I was sitting in my car, waiting for the light to change, I happened to look to the left of the highway, and saw a large group of trees, many known as the Tree of Heaven, Chinese Sumac, or the more familiar name as the Stink Tree.  Suddenly, memories of my childhood flooded my mind; it took me back to Indianapolis, Indiana, where our family lived on the West side of the city.  Homes were close together in our neighborhood, and we lived on a corner lot.  For some reason, the tiny yard behind our apartment was on a slant, and water from surrounding homes filtered down to our tiny yard, making  rivets in the yard.  My dad diligently planted grass each spring, trying his best to raise some grass in the tiny yard, but was disheartened to see the rain wash it right down almost as quickly as it was planted.  Dad did finally succeed in finding some hearty grass that took root and gave us a bit of a green yard.   

Growing a tree in that back yard would  be nearly impossible. The yard was too dinky.  If grass had a hard time taking root, the yard was much too small to grow a good size tree.  The roots of the tree would have to be  shallow, as the roots were bound to  grow under those close knit houses.  There was one exception.   One old tree seemed to make the grade , although it didn't grow in our yard; it was on the outside of the sidewalk and hung over on our yard a bit .   I was at the tender and suggestible age of 10, and even though I was young,  I had 'mixed' feelings about that tree. 

It was large.  It gave much-needed shade.  It was a tree, but I became embarrassed of that tree!  Why? Well, my embarrassment was probably caused by  my mother because she explained that the tree was not a very important tree, but was actually started as a 'weed' of sorts. ( Strange as it now seems, whatever my mother said to me, I took it as gospel truth!  She could color my thinking so quickly! )  She also said that this tree would grow wherever it decided to grow, and the worse thing about the tree was that it was called a 'stink' tree.  It was called that popular name, as it gave off a weird and awful scent.  Now, on the other hand, my mother  declared she was happy for the tree, as it gave us shade in the hot Midwest summer.  I  really didn't believe  that one good thing about the tree; something about her utter distain for the smell, and the fact that it was just a weed, had already permeated my feelings! 

To this day, I do not like that tree.  Here is some information from the Bostonzest.com website;  "There are trees that even environmentalists are willing to cut down and dig up. One of those is the Ailanthus tree, also known as Stink Tree, Tree-of-heaven, China-sumac, and Varnish tree. Ailanthus trees are in bloom in Boston right now. The male trees produce an aroma that has been compared to cat urine. The female trees cover gardens, alleys, cars, and sidewalks with seed droppings and debris. If you enter the search term "stink tree" into Google™, you'll come up with entries for the Ailanthus. 

Pasted from <http://www.bostonzest.com/2008/06/bostons-stink-t.html> 

So, I am not alone in my disliking of this tree.  It caused me to ponder however, that there are also many things in our lives that can be comparable to the Stink Tree.  Could we change the name of the tree to the acceptable name of 'Tree of Heaven' and like it  better?  I doubt that calling something by a different name could help change some situations or some people.  There are people with stinky attitudes, and these people may even be close to us; family members  or co-workers.  How do we deal with them and the problems they create?  It is hard to conjure up good feelings about people who give off  'stinky' vibes and attitudes.  Even as you may be able to rid yourself of a tree, how can you rid yourself of a troublesome person that you frequently have to encounter? 

  I suggest you adopt the attitude of my mother.  She did not like certain aspects of that Stink tree, but living with a very small backyard and not having the means to change the landscaping,  she appreciated what the tree was able to provide to us.  The shade was invaluable in days when air conditioning was a luxury. After making those appreciative comments about the tree, I do not remember her dwelling on the aspect of disliking it any longer.  My mother had an attitude of gratitude for anything and everything good that came her way.  

The way to look at some insurmountable problems, is to look  first at what might be good in the problem or person.  There are times when our prayers do get answered, and a problem boss, or co-worker gets a pink slip.  However, the removal of a person out of our life is not always necessary in order  to live victoriously!  Besides,  how do we know that life would be easier without said person in our life?  Many married people get divorced, only to marry another person that is of equal or even of a worse personality, and many times, they even marry the same type of personality again!  If we cannot change a family member  to see things our way, or at least to make a compromise,  we still can learn to make the encounters easier to deal with.   There will always be problems for us to work out in our families.  Some problems are so huge!  There are people who have to help handicapped individuals on a daily basis, families who have to help mentally challenged children, hospitalizations and illnesses, etc., and they make us realize that any of us who whine and complain over petty little problems should try to realize what real problems are!  So what if that tree had an unpleasant smell  at times?  What about the good shade?  What can we find in our situation that is good and pleasant?  We need to  pray for strength, not only when it is imperative that we have to change our situation, but also to show  grace and serenity when we have to live with things that cannot be changed.