Today we celebrate the birthday of founding Treeper, StellaP.  Not only is she a founding member of this rag tag group, she was the intrepid pioneer who set out to find other lost members of the tribe, round them up, and band them together until we found this Tree and set about making it a home.

StellaP is one of our more versatile and skilled admins. You often see her wicked logic skills as she quickly tackles the trolls and those with objectives, but little sense. What you don’t see is the skill she utilizes behind the scenes, the technical savvy she uses when the whatchamacallits and the thingy majiggers go on the fritz. She has a masters degree in Fixing What’s Wrong, and we thank God for that!

The rest of us rely on her good sense and sound guidance. She has such a talent for breaking difficult, complex problems down to the bare bones so that we can see the essence of the matter, and find solutions.

Now, lest you think her interests are all intellectual, we shall elaborate more on her varied skills and interests. She is quite the flower lover, and if you need gardening tips, she is your woman. She learned her skills from her beloved mother who was one of those rare people who seemed to bond with the very land and plants themselves.

Need help choosing a great recipe? Stellap has probably tried several ways to prepare your favorite food, and she can advise you which wine might go just right with it as well. Her enthusiasm for life, for experiences, for every day, for each and every experience are truly wonderful. She sets such high standards for the rest of us Treepers.

Happy Birthday, StellaP. We wish you all the best things in life as we celebrate with you today, and by golly, we know you’ll have them. Because you are the kind of woman who doesn’t hesitate, you just go out and get it done.

It is exciting to take a walk each Spring day to see what’s new. The grass begins to green up, and tree buds fatten, then pop open. Have you ever noticed that one sunny day when you are driving or walking down your street there seems to be a green haze in the air, as the leaves unfurl? The Spring flowers pop up; first the crocus and grape hyacinth, then the daffodils and tulips, the forsythia, lily of the valley and bleeding heart, then the lilacs (sigh), and the glorious explosion of the peonies! Tada! It is God’s gift after the cold and snow of winter, an amazing, miraculous time of the year.My mother once gave me a wonderful gift; she planted a spring bulb garden for me near my front door, so that I would see it each time I stepped outside. I looked forward to that each morning as I left for work.Mom loved working in the garden almost more than anything else, and sharing its bounty with family, friends and acquaintances. One of the “activities” for the children in Jessie’s garden was collecting tomato worms in a paper bag, then throwing the bag in the burning barrel. The kids loved it, and the tomatoes were the better for it!My daughter and my mother had a special relationship. They spent a great deal of time together, both out of necessity and out of love. Jenny was born when my mother was already 62 years old, but since Jessie, my mom, lived for another 29 years, they had from childhood to just after Jennifer’s marriage to cultivate the love affair between a grandchild and her grandmother.Today I’d like to share a poem Jessie wrote to Jenny when she was about two years old. It reminds me of the love between a grandmother and her grandchild, and the beauty of Spring.

The Woods

O, come to the woods, sweet Jenny.
Come to the woods with me
To smell the earth’s damp fragrance
And plants from the earth set free.

From winter’s cold dark prison
Seeking the sun’s bright beam
Hearing the voice of the prompter,
“Come up, awake from your dream.”

The buttercup is blooming
It has spread a yellow sheen
And out upon the water
You can see some velvet green.

The phlox are every color,
Their fragrance fills the air,
And at our feet so tiny,
The violets nestle there.

O Jenny, peek beneath the leaves
To see the flowers fair
In purple, white, or yellow,
An exquisite jewel rare.

I could name the lilies red
And lilies white and blue.
In all of this great company
I’ve only named a few.

But if I’m gone, dear Jenny,
And can’t take you by the hand,
Take Mom and Dad to the woods someday
And experience something grand.

For God created simple things
Like flowers and songs of birds
To be enjoyed in quietness
Without the sound of words.

We thought you might like to enjoy this poem again on your birthday, and hope it brings back many fond memories of the wonderful lady who first celebrated your birth.