Let's Be Like Oaks

The other day I was hiking with my lab, Mocha, through my favorite stretch of woods, and I couldn’t help but notice the number of trees that had blown over… roots and all.

As I surveyed the surroundings, it was interesting to see several trees standing straight and tall next to those that had blown over. This peeked my curiosity… how nature had chosen some trees to be susceptible to wind and storms, while, ten feet away, others were unscathed.

Being a biology major, I had a sense of the answer but, when in doubt, google it.

Seems the answer lies in the root system and, more specifically, with the development (or lack of development) of a taproot. The taproot, in the case of species of trees that produce one, is a super thick and strong root that goes vertically straight down into the earth, looking for aquifers and providing support for the tree. Some taproots, such as the Wild Fig of South Africa, can go almost 400 feet deep, which provides far more nutrients and support than horizontal surface roots.

Closer inspection of the trees that had blown over showed only shallow surface rooted beech, birch, and maples. Those that did not succumb to the storms were the deep taproot producers such as oaks and hickories. This, I thought, was quite an interesting way for nature to develop different root systems based on the trees’ needs and the environment.

Taking this thought further, I began to see analogies between the strengths of some trees and the strengths of some families in the face of adversity.

It came to me while standing, gazing at a simply epic century old oak, and thinking about a couple of phone calls I received from, let’s call them acquaintances, this week. Both calls were quite similar… distraught dads… both had late teen / early twenties children and both were lamenting the fact that they never see their kids or know what they’re doing or with whom. No matter how hard these callers were now trying, getting the family “together” was approaching lost-cause status.

Their kids stayed quarantined at apartments of friends and off-campus housing and nobody was coming home. During these self-reflecting periods of the quarantine, both of these workaholic individuals, I suspect, were beginning to realize they had not developed a family taproot… the kind of taproot that is formed by coaching your child’s sports team and going for ice cream when they won and especially when they didn’t.

Taproots are slowly formed by hours of participation in the growth and development of your child in the myriad of life’s activities. These two acquaintances are examples of the shallow-rooted beech and maples of the world. At the first winds of trouble, alcohol, drugs, or any of a hundred threats to family life in today’s society, over goes the seemingly great family!

And you all know the response: “Oh, why us?” Yes, so busy at the office they never knew how shallow their family’s roots actually were. Until it’s too late! Any botanist or psychologist will tell you, a strong taproot isn’t created over night or without effort from the tree or parents.

The pine is a unique tree in the fact that if the soil is just right in its composition and moisture, it will produce a fine taproot. But, as in Northern Ohio, with dense clay as a poor composition to grow in, the pine takes the easier path and goes with a shallow surface root system. And as we saw a couple of weeks ago, when the winds blow, over goes the shallow rooters.

How many of us know families that started out ideal and on the right track for several years but then priorities changed and the easier road was chosen?

As parents, we all want our families to be like the pillar of the woods… the Oak… with a deep and tenacious taproot, to emotionally feed and support our families during the storms of life. From the cut of the umbilical cord… until we are viewing the world from six feet under… our mission needs to be nurturing and creating the strongest and deepest taproot we can humanly produce. The strength, vitality, and longevity of each family today depends on the core values of its foundation and the depth of its love and respect for each other, through the production of its family taproot.

I will leave you with the poignant words of Harry Chapin in his song, Cat’s in the Cradle:

My child arrived just the other day
He came into the world in the usual way
But there were planes to catch, and bills to pay
He learned to walk while I was away

My son turned ten just the other day
He said, thanks for the ball, dad, come on let's play
Can you teach me to throw, I said, not today
I got a lot to do, he said, that's okay

"When you coming home, dad?" "I don't know when"
But we'll get together then

I've long since retired and my son's moved away
I called him up just the other day
I said, I'd like to see you if you don't mind
He said, I'd love to, dad, if I could find the time

And as I hung up the phone it occurred to me
He’d grown up just like me
My boy was just like me.

- Charles Pfister