sitting_tree_smiles Dafremen Sitting Tree Smiles R. Dafremen There once lived a man who was called Tawnkehana, which in his native tongue meant "sitting tree." Tawnkehana was an old man who had lived a full, happy life with a woman who loved him very much. The two of them had experienced many adventures together. They had raised happy, healthy children and watched them grow to have children of their own. Tawnkehana was a tired, but happy old man, whose people loved him very much. As a result, he was very satisfied with his life. One day, while gathering berries, Tawnkehana slumped to the ground and did not get back up. He had told noone that he was leaving to pick berries and so, although he was greatly missed by his people, he was never found. Many years passed before an acorn, dropped by a squirrel leaping from treetop to treetop, happened to land in the center of where Tawnkehana had fallen. With time, the small tree that sprouted from that acorn, had taken in much of what had once been Tawnkehana. It continued to grow until it became a mighty oak, rising high above the forest floor, providing shelter and food for generation after generation of forest animals. Four hundred and twenty two seasons passed and the mighty oak grew old, eventually more dead wood than live wood. It had a lived a full life and had given so much. It had passed through so many adventures and touched so many lives, it had passed through drought and times of plenty, fire and the bitterest colds. It had lived as good a life as a tree might want to live, but now it was old and practically lifeless. Around this same time, there lived a man who had been stricken with severe arthritis. The pain was so bad that it got harder and harder for him to stand up once he sat down. Out searching for firewood one day, he happened upon the huge old oak, standing leafless in the middle of the forest. He decided then and there that he would have the base of this mighty tree as his chair. The tree was felled; part of it went to make a dugout canoe, part was made into a plow, some was set aside as firewood and finally, the base became the disabled man's daytime perch, a resting place for his old, arthritic bones. His misery lessened by the comfort that the chair provided, he was able to spend his final years in relative happiness, watching the sun go down, listening to the sounds of his grandchildren's laughter as they climbed over him and the chair. When the old man finally passed away, his people found him sitting in his beloved chair. They honored his request to have it buried with him, and to show their respect they planted an apple tree on the spot. The tree grew to give good fruit for many years, so good in fact that people would come for miles around to taste it. This tree that had come from a man and his chair that had come from a tree that had come from a man called Tawnkehana who had lived a full and happy life. This tree that now gave that same gift to these people through it's fruit, passing on the gift that was Tawnkehana to them. It became an orchard which the locals named after the apple tree which had been a gift of respect. A gift to a happy old man and the chair that had made such a difference in his life. They called the orchard Mashawneho, or "sitting tree smiles." - - 011102 ... Teenage Jesus Cyclic Beauty! That one made me smile; thanx! 011106 ... girl_jane very sweet 020729 ... taojones just checkin' in to see what I'm gonna be tearing to shreads... 030116 ... Dafremen Nothing it seems. Instead it is you who are torn to shreds by time. Fear not, there's always next time around. 030403 ... flowerock oh I love this. to be honest I have avoided reading longer blathes... impatient. this is beautiful, I cried good tears. 140816 what's it to you? who go blather from