Planting the Anniversary Oak

In THIS POST FROM 2015 I talk about and show pictures from our engagement in San Antonio and anniversary almost 30 years ago, our germinating a live oak acorn from the Alamo and our ordeal with our 'Anniversary Alamo Oak.'  The story takes a tragic turn, but things are salvaged and good comes out of bad.  Click the link above to read it for background.

As described in the link above, the handful of Alamo Acorns (part 2) resulted in one of them germinating.  I nurtured it and now it is healthy and 3 feet tall.  We decided on a beautiful day this past weekend, to take it out of the pot and root it into good soil.  We loaded the wagon with all the gear needed for planting and walked out to find the perfect spot.

My Smiling Bride

We picked a spot in the lowest part of the yard where the soil will stay the dampest during droughts.  It is also close enough to the pasture where it will provide some shade to the farm animals as it grows taller.  I dug a nice hole, pulled the tree out of the pot, put it in the hole and put some good potting soil mixed with regular soil into the hole.

Tricia snapped a photo of me with our anniversary oak. 

And here is my wife posing with our anniversary oak.  Who knows how big the first one would be right now - 30 years.  It would be a nice-sized tree! 

The Queen and her tree

The little live oak is in a nice spot so that we can view it while swinging, sitting around our fire pit, or sitting on the back patio.  Yes, the tree just belongs here!

We fertilized it, made a 'well' around it with a berm and watered it in.  Each day I'll add water until we get a good rain.  It has been unseasonably dry in April, only raining 1 inch all month so far.  The spot we planted it in is close enough to the house where we can pull a hose out to it to water, if needed.

So now, we'll just let time tick on and watch our live oak tree grow.  Perhaps birds will eventually build their nests in the branches.  Maybe our great grand kids will climb its limbs.  Perhaps a grandchild will swing on a tire swing in its shade.  Maybe none of that will happen.  Perhaps the memory of the tree's meaning is the important thing - like the acorn growing a mighty oak, a marriage starts out with great hope and promise.  There are set-backs, droughts, rainy seasons, catastrophes.  But over time, if that tree is nurtured and the couple is patient and kind, a monument that stands the test of time can grow, blessed by God and built on the foundation of love.  And that legacy of love can be enjoyed by the couple as well as generations to follow.  Grow strong, little oak!