In Which My Tree Moves Outdoors

This is a picture of the first tree I ever owned. It is a Norfolk Island pine, and I bought it as a little "Christmas tree" with decorations on, probably 30 or more years ago. When I got it, I took it into the office at work. I had lots of plants back in those days; too numerous to count!

The little tree has traveled through a bunch of different offices with me since then - It's been at Mitchell Building, at the corner of Shortlidge and East Park Ave, the Minitab building at Cato Park, and most recently, the Outreach Building at Innovation Park.

In mid-March, when the quarantine hit, I brought the tree home from my office. Moving it was difficult; it was an unwieldy, prickly thing. And of course, it was too cold out for it then; Norfolk Island pines prefer milder weather than we have in the colder months in Pennsylvania. And temps below freezing at night were just too chilly for it. So it spent the past six weeks or so in our garage.

The tree has also been in too small a pot for quite some time now, and one of my goals was to give it some more soil and move it into a bigger pot. All of which I finally did on this day! You may see the tree in its new habitat on our deck.

Oh, I admit I worried a little about it - this would be its first night outdoors, EVER. But I am writing this the morning after, and the tree did just fine! Even as I speak, it is sitting there, looking happy, and perhaps even . . . triumphant: in its new home in the sun.

Here is a song for moving a tree: Peter Gabriel, with Shaking the Tree.