Determination!

Some times as I wander around the hillside, I see things in nature that just should not be.   Usually through man's negligence or interference, something occurs that has extreme detrimental effects on an otherwise perfectly normal situation.  Today, I notice just that, something that should have never happened but through determination a somewhat difficult existence was unfolding.  I had gone around back to pick the last few remaining blackberries when I spotted a small oak tree that would be doomed to a shortened life if left where it sprouted.  You see, an acorn had obviously fallen right in the top of a pipe that was used to secure a water faucet.  The pipe is an old iron type that was driven into the ground next to the raised faucet that plies the garden with much needed moisture.  The diameter of the pipe is a mere one inch..not much growing room for an oak tree!

The little oak tree seemed to be healthy enough at the moment but it was easy to see that without some intervention, that health would soon start to wane.  Now the question..do I ease the small seedling from the top of the pipe or do I let it struggle within the confines of its iron binding?  Pulling it from the tube should be simple enough if the tap root has not grown the entire thirty inches or so to the free soil under the pipe's reach.  I know that we do not actually need another oak tree on the hill but then it seems so like torture to leave the little tree where it is and I do feel somewhat responsible for its predicament since the pipe was put in place to support a faucet that I mostly use.

Oak trees are notoriously tough trees but I am not sure that the "Mighty Oak" refers to a tiny sprig of a tree like this.  There have been circumstances where a tree, as it grows, will split off any encumbrance such as an old tree stump and mature as if nothing had ever happened.  But..an iron pipe?  The oak's strength would definitely be put to test!  I posed the question to my son, Michael, and he looked at the oak for a few minutes.  Then in his quiet way, he told me that he would transplant the little tree.  He knew that I would fret about a simple thing such as this until something was done so he just saved me the trouble.  Tomorrow, he promised to pull out the tiny tree and pot it until we find a home for it!  Yay! My Hero! The tiny tree will be rescued and my guilt has been assuaged! Not that I could not have done this but it is always nice to have someone in agreement that something needs to be done!