Seed pods with promise for the future, Mother Nature's helicopters, hang in thousands of clusters on our old maple trees out front. An over-abundance of helicopters indicates the tree experienced stress the previous year. Producing a bumper crop of seeds is the tree’s way of carrying on the species, should the stress continue and the tree die off. The drought this summer has undoubtedly stressed these old and beloved trees.
These seed pods make me think of a favorite hymn,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpqHE84LAAw
"In the Bulb there is a Flower"
Natalie Sleeth
In the bulb there is a flower; in the seed, an apple tree;
In cocoons, a hidden promise: butterflies will soon be free!
In the cold and snow of winter there’s a spring that waits to be,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.
There’s a song in every silence, seeking word and melody;
There’s a dawn in every darkness, bringing hope to you and me.
From the past will come the future; what it holds, a mystery,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.
In our end is our beginning; in our time, infinity;
In our doubt there is believing; in our life, eternity,
In our death, a resurrection; at the last, a victory,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.
