By IkeChukwu Unegbe
Never underestimate the value of a tree; you never know when you might need its shade or shelter.
Trees are infrastructure.
A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. _We cut down the trees, pave over the soil, then *wonder why the city feels like an oven*_
Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air, and giving fresh strength to our people. Every flowering tree is a free canteen for pollinators and a cooling system for people.
Plants are more courageous than almost all human beings: _an orange tree would rather die than produce lemons, whereas instead of dying, the average person would rather be someone they are not._
The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.
In their highest boughs the world rustles, their roots rest in infinity, but they don’t lose themselves there – they struggle with all the force of their lives for one thing only: *to fulfill themselves according to their own laws, to build up their own form, to represent themselves* .
A fertile tree has no reason to yearn for another tree’s fruit._
Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. They do not preach learning and precepts, they preach, undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life.
When a tree is cut down and reveals its naked death-wound to the sun, one can read its whole history in the luminous inscribed disk of its trunk: in the rings of its years,its scars, all the struggle, all the suffering, all the sickness, all the happiness and prosperity stand truly written, the narrow years and the luxurious years, the attacks withstood, the storms endured.
It’s only during a storm that a tree knows how strong it is. _A seed has few friends , but a tree has many enemies_
So, don’t be afraid of criticism ; *the tallest trees are always confronted by the strongest winds*
PLANT A TREE WHOSE SHADE WILL COMFORT STRANGERS LONG AFTER YOUR STORY ENDS.
May today, Wednesday, be kind to you.