For the Files: Love A Tree Day Children's Ceremony

World Tree(s), by friend & kindred spirit Bryan Perrin.

The Wee Ones & I tried out our own rendition of the Love a Tree Day for our "Reinvented Wheel." It seems with the children it is best to keep it simple & meaningful. So, in some haste, I came up with a rhyme we could say as we fed each of our trees (the shrubs got some too). I wanted to be sure to save it here for following years, although I confess, the rhyme could use some re-working to make it flow more smoothly. But, what can one expect from a rhyme composed in the car en route to a T-Ball game?

Since we have some saplings, some medium sized trees & a couple of very large, old trees, we adjusted the words to fit them more personally, alluding to the future/potential of our younger trees & speaking to the past/present with the larger, older trees.

While pouring food, we addressed each tree:

Great Old Tree, Great Old Tree,
Thanks for all you give to me,
Under thee,
The shade is free,
Here we'll ever happy be.

(Substitute "Middlin' Tree" & "Little Tree" for Great Old Tree. Adjustment for future tense of saplings: "Thanks for all you'll give to me... the shade will be free.")

Part of me wants to add more to the rhyme, but I must remind myself of the limitations of the children's ability to remember all of it. Perhaps we can add more lines over the years, as the grow older & more able to memorize a longer piece.