The Story of a Pear

The Pear! This picture certainly won’t win any editorial food photography awards, but it was the best I could do on the short notice between picking the pear and eating it. I LOVE it!!!

Last year, I went to the nursery knowing that I wanted to get three apple trees. The family knows I will always come out of the nursery with so much more than I went in there for, but they’ve come to accept and expect it. My connection to the plant spirits, and the time I spend asking, “who wants to be a part of this co-creation we’re working on?” has produced some really lovely results — not just in terms of the beauty of the plants, though they are beautiful, but in the energy of light and love and collaboration in our garden as well. And so, my family has accepted that there will always be more to plant than what we have prepared space for. And they’ve also developed so much patience around how long they have to wait for me when I’ve gone into the nursery by myself. And we’ve all gotten used to me coming back and saying, “well, this guy wanted to come too, so …”

So! We now share our garden with a pear tree!

As I was perusing the aisle of beautiful apple trees, a branch reached out and grabbed my hat. I turned and found that a baby pear tree with beautiful shiny green leaves was the one who’d asked for my attention. I hadn’t really intended to find a pear tree, not being much of a pear eater myself, but this pear tree found me and it was clear that it would be coming home with us. It had the sweetest energy, and I was really excited for it to be a part of our lives. But the transition was hard and the acclimation was hard and she needed a lot of special tending last year. So I asked what she wanted and did my best to provide.

This year, she showed her gratitude for all that time spent by growing three gorgeous pears! And at the end of the summer, she grew these beautiful branches that nearly doubled her reach upward! It’s been so lovely to participate in her joyful growing all season long. And I was so joyful when we picked the first of her pears yesterday that I kissed her, hugged the pear and felt this bubbling in my heart that was so much love and happiness.

And that is the story (so far) of our baby pear friend!