Prompt and Circumstance

Once Upon a Gumnut

'invention' (August 5-7, 2016)

... a mighty River Red Gum tree was born.

Did his humble beginnings result from a gusting wind spreading its seeds far and wide? Or maybe the pod was taken far from home in the beak of a bird intent on extracting the tasty morsels so well protected by that sturdy shell. Alas, those seeds would provide no challenge for the long, sharp beak of a bird like a kookaburra. Even the curly beak of a cockatoo can empty a gumnut and leave it bare.

Imagine the odds of one small seed from one lonely gumnut, surrounded by a healthy wad of manure, finding the exact place of nurture to flourish and grow... and grow. Even before he was a teenager, he would have been more than 12 metres (or nearly 40 feet) tall.

When I first met him he fitted that terribly overused word 'AWESOME' like a glove, as though it were invented especially to fit him. Along with everyone we introduced to him, we found countless wondrous words to describe him - majestic, awe-inspiring, magnificent, stately... the list is endless.

Cannot imagine how many families of birds and all manner of creepy crawlies have found refuge within his welcoming depths in his lifetime. Or how many animals have found shelter beneath his great outstretched 'arms' - whether from the darkest, stormiest nights - or shaded from the blistering heat of the midday sun in summer.

He was a friend like no other. It was not only animals who found solace in his strength. That gentle giant's trunk has been hugged, and prayed alongside, and his bark soaked up a bucket of my tears. I'm sure they weren't the first... or last. He was ours for only five years - a mere click of the fingers in his lifetime.

When we first realised his possible age, we were tempted to have him heritage-listed, to protect him from human harm. But we never did for fear of the potential upheaval of his peaceful life if he became famous. Ours too. Selfish maybe, but he's still there and intact and fulfilling Nature's destiny for him. We live far away from him now, but a friend photographed him for us last year and if it were possible to be even bigger and better, he is.

Oh dear... just realised, I haven't told you what makes him SO special to all who know and love him. Those beginnings I described happened somewhere in the 1600's, we believe. This is on good advice based on the girth of that gentle giant.

When he was but a glimmer of all that he would become, the telescope, the submarine, and even Dom Perignon Champagne were new inventions. Mount Vesuvius was doing one of its more spectacular eruptions; building of the Taj Mahal was underway, then completed; Cervantes published 'Don Quixote' and William Shakespeare published 'Sonnets' in the final years of both of their lives.

For such a tiny while this giant was legally ours. In our hearts? Forever.

NOW THAT IS AWESOME!