At the beginning of June, a small orange tree was imported from Florida to New York. Thanks to vacuum sealing, the little tree made the airplane trip without injury. It seemed destined to thrive in the humid New York weather of summertime. The tree was given as a gift to a loved one.
The small orange tree was potted in fresh soil, and given water and plant food in the proper amounts and at the specified intermittentcy. The little tree was placed at a double windowed corner of the house, where sunlight comes in one side in the morning at sunrise and through the other at sunset. The temperature over the next three weeks ranged from low 60s to high 90s, with moderate humidity. One would think that there could not be an environment more optimal than this.
However, after three weeks in the New York environment, the small orange tree began to wilt. The other potted plants around it were flourishing, yet the leaves on the little tree were curling up. Within a couple days, one leaf fell off, followed the next day by the other three. All that remained was a green-brown body no thicker than a twig, protruding four inches from the soil.
The receiver of the gift was distraught, that she was somehow responsible despite the fact that she followed the directions that came with the tree. The giver of the tree told the receiver to forget about it, that plants die because the inability to adjust to different climates, and assured that he’d get another one when in Florida again.
But the gift receiver was not ready to give up on the small orange tree yet. She aerated the top two inches of soil and put it back into the double windowed corner. Within a couple days, a tiny green bud had emerged at the very top of the twig body. An utter surprise, or was it?
There are no guarantees that anything will come from the sprout, or if it will thrive when the weather grows cold by October. But this much was certain—not everything that looks dead is, and the gift receiver knew this. She smiled as she looked out of the double windows, smiled with the hope of seeing an orange of destiny one day.