{"id":13216,"date":"2014-03-27T03:06:05","date_gmt":"2014-03-27T09:06:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=13216"},"modified":"2014-03-28T00:08:55","modified_gmt":"2014-03-28T06:08:55","slug":"the-mystery-of-spring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/the-mystery-of-spring\/","title":{"rendered":"The mystery of Spring"},"content":{"rendered":"

By TED ROBERTS, the SCRIBBLER ON THE ROOF<\/em><\/p>\n

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I pontificate to my grandkids. And I specifically instruct my now grown-up children – \u201cHey, don\u2019t steal my thunder. Don’t tell Lizzie my Spring stories – wait’ll I visit in April.\u00a0 Lemme do it.\u00a0 OK?\u201d<\/p>\n

The first story is the old Greek myth of the beautiful and radiant maiden Persephone and her capture by Hades, King of the underworld.<\/p>\n

How the earth mourned.\u00a0 Gray with grief, nothing bloomed. Then, the story goes, Hades
\nrelented and let Persephone take an elevator, escalator, or staircase to the upper world – but for only six months.<\/p>\n

The flowers rejoiced, the apple trees rejoiced and the sap flowed again in every living thing. Spring sprang. When the captive took the \u201cdown\u201d escalator back to the shady land that never knew the sun, the plants again were brokenhearted.<\/p>\n

The second story…the one we believe today, though more scientific is
\nfar less poetic. Two spherical bodies, the earth and the sun, each weighing billions of tons hang in an infinite void.\u00a0 (At this my curious grandson interrupts to ask \u201cWhat holds them up?\u201d)<\/p>\n

\u201cGravity,\u201d I confidently answer.\u00a0 A word that only represents our infinite
\nignorance. (He\u2019s not grown up so he knows my answer is ludicrous, but he\u2019s old enough to know he should let me continue.)<\/p>\n

Spring, the awakening of the plants that dwell in the backyard, is also an awakening to the young mind that only knows what it sees.<\/p>\n

In November it noticed that the apple tree was leafless and dead. In\u00a0 May, it\u2019s alive with cotton candy blossoms. And there\u2019s talk around the house of apple cider, and apple pie.\u00a0 Not to mention a fresh apple with your school lunch.<\/p>\n

What happened?\u00a0 There used to be a swathe of dirt along the back yard fence and now there\u2019s a yellow jonquil fresco by Degas.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s magic.\u00a0 Kids love magic.<\/p>\n

Kids love stories about trees. So, on this holiday tell them about the acorn that turned into a 40-ton tree that shaded six-year-old\u00a0 Melinda\u2019s house; an easy-going tree that allowed them to tie a swing on his lower branches.\u00a0 Tell them how that old oak tree will patiently
\nserve Melinda and her children and her children’s children for three generations of humankind. Remind them that 50 years from now some child, now patiently waiting in the womb of infinity, will thank her unknown grandmother, Melinda, for shade and a nice swing.<\/p>\n

Kids love Spring, because they love trees and magic. And they see clearer than us the magic in the green family of trees.<\/p>\n

My grandson, Jonah, turned five the other day. His parents gave him a\u00a0 party. They even hired a magician fully dressed in cape, wand, even hat. The kids went wild. The magic man hid things and he transformed things. He violated the laws of gravity. But he couldn\u2019t make a tree.<\/p>\n

I asked him, \u201cHey, Tu B\u2019Shevat\u2019s coming – make a tree.” Instead, he
\npulled a quarter out of Jonah\u2019s ear. Big deal.<\/p>\n

In early Spring every year, I tour our back yard with one grandchild after another.\u00a0 \u201cSee that stick standing in the ground, Jonah?\u00a0 Well, in a couple of weeks it\u2019ll sprout some leaves. And by the end of Summer, it\u2019ll be a miniature, two-foot tree.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kids love miracles. One Spring day a few years back Jonah, the birthday boy, and I were touring the yard.<\/p>\n

\u201cJonah, hey look. See that stick poking up out of the ground?\u00a0 (Actually, the \u201cstick\u201d was
\nthe product of four seeds planted last Fall.\u00a0 Since I have no knowledge of plant genetics, I attribute my success to my ethical behavior during the Winter.\u00a0 Usually, I get two sticks.\u00a0 Once, I got\u00a0 FOUR sticks because from October to April I never, not once did I raise my voice to my wife\u2019s relatives. They visit frequently at mealtime.<\/p>\n

This time, however, I got only one stick.\u00a0 It was a tough winter for
\nme and my in-laws.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo Jonah – see the stick?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, wanta see a super<\/em> magic trick?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re gonna turn it into a candy bar like the magician at my\u00a0 birthday party?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNope – a lot better than that.\u00a0 I am going to say the magic word, which is \u2018Tu B\u2019Shevat\u2019.\u00a0 I am going to wave my magic handkerchief over the stick. And you and I, in three years, will come back to this stick, which will turn into an apple tree. We\u2019ll sit in the shade and eat apples. Then, you can climb up to the top of the tree. Is that a
\ntrick or what?\u201d<\/p>\n

The normal five-year-old grandchild says thank you and then tries to get a handle on the concept of time. How is three years different from next Wednesday?<\/p>\n

But this one, with a few ragged DNA threads from in-laws in his bloodstream, complained about waiting so long for his magic trick.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when I went from oak trees to bean vines. Plant them in April and by July you\u2019ve got yards and yards of vines decorated with bean blossoms.<\/p>\n

Remember what Bill Gates said:\u00a0 \u201cFortunes are made by fools like me, but only G-d can make a tree.”<\/p>\n

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