Tag Archives: never say die

Never say die.

Never say die, said the little palm tree my neighbor carted home the other day.  She picked up a bunch of free plants and one of them was a small palm tree that grew in an ugly little container.

I wanted the palm tree, and we decided to plant it on the property line.   Someone had planted it in a cut off water drinking bottle, left it there until it was choked with roots, and then set it on top of the soil in the tiny planter.  When we got it, it was so choked in the bottle I had a really hard time cutting open the plastic.  I got a slit cut and then I had to use a pair of pliers to “roll” the plastic away from the roots.

Then came the effort of pulling it out of the pot.  It had somehow busted through the bottom of the plastic and sent roots into the pot.  I had to use all of my strength to pull it out (not kidding!)  The roots had been curled around the bottom, all thirty-six inches of them.  They were hanging on for dear life.  It took me another fifteen minutes to release the roots from the rest of the plastic.

I wonder if it would have busted through the plastic in the end.  It had been trying real hard.

This is a puny palm with two leaves.  To get it to stand straight in the ground I had to plant the root ball  sideways since it had been growing sideways out of the plastic.

The point of the story?  Never say die, no matter how difficult and constricted your situation may be.  Nature is a great example of resilience and purpose.  There is always that dandelion growing in the crack of the concrete sidewalk.   Where there is a path to light and rain, some greenery will always sprout.  People thrive when they pursue their heart’s desire.  What is YOUR heart’s desire?

I was amazed when I planted that palm  It has been a week, and it already has a new leaf coming up.

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I have a feeling this palm tree will do great from now on.

Are you going to bust through your plastic bottle constraint?   I hope so; there’s a whole world out there to explore.

xo

Maria

P.S.  If you want some art inspiration, check out my e-courses at http://ecourses-mariagreene.org  Try something new today. 🙂

…because life is happening NOW!