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January 24, 2008

Thursday

Why did you climb a tree?

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Apples. Red against the blue sky, just out of reach.

It’s not just about the apples. Catch the memory – hoisting up a leg, adjusting to the architecture of a tree, looking for handholds, finding each foothold, testing it, climbing, making your small self tall. Finding a fork in the branches to perch and look around. Feeling the breeze on your face.

Choose an apple, veined in red and yellow and pink, when you look up close. Warm in your hand, crisp to bite into, sweet tart juice on your tongue.

Did you savour it all so much, as a kid?

Posted by: rooruu at January 24, 2008 6:32 AM · Permalink

"You said Mommy died and went to Heaven," my daughter explained. "I climbed the tree to get closer to Heaven."

I sighed and forced my teeth not to grind. "Well, okay, but it's an awfully big tree. Just don't climb so high anymore, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy," she said, hugging my leg. She ran off to play, leaving me wondering when I'd tell her the truth: her mother had bailed on us three months after she was born. I hadn't even tried to keep track of her.

Maybe she was dead... but after leaving her daughter, she definitely wasn't in Heaven.

Posted by: LJ at January 24, 2008 7:35 AM · Permalink