A Family Tree
Posted on September 24, 2013 under Storytelling with no comments yet
“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire …” The Christmas Song by Mel Torme
Our town is blessed with an abundance and variety of trees. So it comes as no surprise that many streets are named after them, like in so many other towns and cities across the land. We have Elm, Pine, Chestnut, Spruce Lane, Maple and Hawthorne, just to name a few.
Several years ago, the dreaded Dutch elm disease tore through the area and many of the majestic elms had to be levelled, several of them at the golf course. I remember this well as there was one particular elm on the fourth hole that seemed to attract my drive like a magnet. One day I was playing with my father-in-law and sure enough, my drive came to rest at the base of the tree approximately 190 yards from the hole. I was stymied and there was no possible way of advancing the ball without cutting down the tree.
This hole was a par four. Passing by, on an adjacent hole, was a friend who commented that getting a birdie on the hole would be challenging to say the least. As he watched, I took a one stroke penalty for an unplayable lie, dropped the ball and lofted my third shot directly into the hole. I don’t know who was more shocked. Later that fall, the maintenance crew levelled the tree. My father in law gathered up a huge slice of it and presented it to me at Christmas. I had it made into a small end table and although cracked and worn, like its owner, it remains upright and a conversation piece.
The other day I bumped into a friend who lives on Chestnut Street. He has resided on that lovely, secluded side street for over forty years. He was telling me that when he and his wife first moved to the street, there wasn’t a chestnut tree to be found, which struck them as odd. So, they decided to take matters into their own hands.
They did some research and gathered up some chestnuts from a tree situated near the cathedral. They nurtured and germinated them during the winter months and the following spring, planted seedlings in various locations on their property and the surrounding area. Voila! If you drive over to Chestnut Street today, you will find lots of chestnut trees.
The neighborhood kids got to experience the thrill of picking up the chestnuts with their prickly outer coating and turning them into exotic necklaces.
In the ensuing years, their children have taken some of the chestnuts and planted them in far flung locations like Georges River in Cape Breton and as far away as Ottawa and Vancouver. These trees have taken root and now bear fruit. Talk about expanding the family tree.
And speaking of family trees, I shook ours the other day and a few nuts fell out. Unfortunately they weren’t chestnuts.
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