TheBanyanTree: Everything We Are....

[Pam North]

... We Learned As Children.

Or, that's what I was told years ago, and I tend to believe it.  At least
that's where my mimosa dreams came from.

Almost 46 years ago, I was born to a young soldier in the Army (is that
redundant?).  He had orders to 'move out', but he also had this pregnant
woman who was carrying a child who didn't think nine months was long enough
to gestate, and so they induced labor on my mom to get me out!  Within a
week, they were off.  And every other year after that he got new orders too.

And then, in 1966 he got orders to Fort Bragg, North Carolina.  They were
given an address in base housing, and they registered my sister and I for
school in that neighborhood.  Unfortunately, at the last minute, our address
changed, but my folks didn't even bother changing our school registration
since it would only be for a year, and so my sister and I (6th and 2nd
graders, respectively) walked to school, passing *by* the school that the
rest of our friends went to!

When my dad didn't get orders the next year, they went ahead and changed my
school since my sister was moving up to the Junior High, and I'd be walking
alone.

And then, stranger and stranger, we stayed there, in base housing for three
more years!

About that time, a good friend of my dad's found himself in trouble.  His
wife had taken their child and moved away, taking all their belongings, and
leaving him with an empty shell of a house in town.  My dad went to him and
offered help, and he told my father that he didn't even *want* the house
anymore - that he'd just as soon be rid of it.

And so my parents completed the legal paperwork to 'take over payments', and
were, for the first time, home owners!

But we didn't live there.  Oh no!!  *Surely* my father would be getting
orders ANY day!!!!  FIVE years at one base was UNHEARD of!!

Finally though, they buckled, and we moved off base.  By then my younger
brother was in school with me, and so every afternoon we'd leave school, and
walk the mile or two to the bank that my worked at on base, hang out in the
'lunchroom', and then ride home with her when she got off.

When we still hadn't moved by the next year, my parents transferred us to
school out in town and we lived in our 'real' house!

It was a small 'ranch-style- home, in a neighborhood of small ranch-style
homes, and my father worked hard to make improvements.  As a career
'military man', he had children who 'policed' the yard, and had 'white-glove
inspections' on the bedrooms every Saturday!!  As time went on, and we STILL
didn't move, dad started making more serious changes to the house.

The dining room had a window that looked out onto the backyard.  The yard
was fenced, but it wasn't much to look at.  Dad had some friends over, and
they removed the window and put in a sliding-glass door.  Then he laid a
concrete pad in the back for a 'patio'.  He worked the yard like a slave,
mowing and weeding and fertilizing, until he was growing grass that was
bright green and thick and *beautiful*!!!

And then they had a pool installed.  It was a pretty big, round,
above-ground thing, with a white 'deck' all the way around, and stairs that
locked up for safety.

And between the house and the pool, my dad planted a mimosa tree.

It grew fast, and it was gorgeous.  I remember a huge swaying, flowery tree,
providing loads of shade, and a very gentle view.  I *loved* that tree!!
Nothing to climb... just to watch blowing in the breeze.

And I wanted my own!  When I was married to my children's father, he was all
about the 'Christmas pine trees'... I hated those!!  Wimpy branches, and
ugly to look at!  So, when we divorced and I had my own home, I planted my
very own mimosa tree.  I didn't know that they grew like weeds here in
eastern North Carolina!  My friend Carla had them growing all over her
garden/pet cemetery in her backyard, and she dug one up for me that I
planted in my front yard.

But, much to my chagrin, a friend came to mow and I forgot to mention my
little tree-ling.  And not just once!!  Oh no!!!  I had TWO little
tree-lings mowed down that year!!

I temporarily gave up.

Then, after the demise of my *second* marriage (!!!!), I found myself
gardening outside, and landscaping where I'd never done it before!  And when
my neighbor Adeline told me she had baby mimosas in her garden, I dug up
another sprout and brought it home and planted it.

And sent my son out to mow.

Hey!  I'm *fun*, just not so bright!!

Somehow though, that little mowed over tree-ling fought for life, and came
back stronger and proud!!

And then I put the house up for sale!

When I moved, I was DETERMINED to have a mimosa!!  It's become something of
a quest in my old age!!

Thought I didn't want to try and dig up the 'new' old one that was growing,
I did find another baby sprouting in my flower bed, and so I dug it up, put
it in a pot, and took it to its new home also.  Unfortunately, it didn't get
planted for several weeks.  But, hearty that they are!, it was still alive
and looking for a home.

Finally, I took it out back to the yard that has no shade, and I picked a
nice centered spot to dig a hole and plan my landscaping.

And when my friend's daughter's boyfriend came over and volunteered to mow
the backyard for me, it wasn't until the NEXT DAY that I remembered my
little sprout and went to check it.

So sad.  ANOTHER mimosa tree-ling, mowed down in the prime of its youth!!!

This was about the time that I found out that my house USED to have a huge
mimosa growing in its yard.  Previous owners had *cut* it down.  Probably
because it was growing INTO the back of the house!!!  They cut it down to
the ground, but they didn't dig up the roots, and so it keeps trying to grow
again.  And I keep getting little babies all over the yard.  But NONE in the
space I want one in!!!!!

This weekend I went on a search of my yard, determined to find another baby
looking for a perfect home, centered in my backyard, to grow big and strong
and beautiful and shade-full!!  I found several of the little weeds, but
they were all growing near some kind of stump or rock pile that made digging
it up a challenge.

*Finally* I found a baby I could reach.  And dig up.  And I planted it in my
backyard.  AFTER *I* had already mowed!

I figure by the time the yard gets mowed again, and I forget about it, it
might have had a fighting chance to grow enough to be seen before somebody
else mows it down again!!!