Happy Arbor Day

Today is Arbor Day.  The day we honor the Earth by planting a tree.  A tree that which will grow and shade your home.  A fruit tree will provide you nourishment.  A shade tree will lower the heat in the summer by 20 degrees.  A tree that provides homes to birds and squirrels.

Trees --- Joyce Kilmer

I Think that I shall never see   
A poem lovely as a tree.   

A tree that looks at God all day,   
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;   

A tree that may in summer wear   
A nest of robins in her hair;   

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;   
Who intimately lives with rain.   

Poems are made by fools like me,   
But only God can make a tree.

I know this artist, Cat Stevens is very controversial.  But this song was written before his conversion to Islam and is a very beautiful one.  Enjoy it.

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Happy Earth Day? REPOST

Today is Earth Day. The day we are suppose to remember the planet we live on and help clean it up. Earth Day is a made-up holiday started by some Hippies back in the 1970's as the birthday of the environmental movement.

I don't celebrate Earth Day. I don't need a day to celebrate the world. I celebrate Arbor Day. It is the United States' original Earth Day. Arbor Day this year is Friday, April 26.

What is Arbor Day you ask? I'll be glad to tell you.

The History of Arbor Day
 The idea for Arbor Day originally came from Nebraska. A visit to Nebraska today wouldn't disclose that the state was once a treeless plain. Yet it was the lack of trees there that led to the founding of Arbor Day in the 1800s.

Among pioneers moving into the Nebraska Territory in 1854 was J. Sterling Morton from Detroit. He and his wife were lovers of nature, and the home they established in Nebraska was quickly planted with trees, shrubs and flowers.N

On January 4, 1872, Morton first proposed a tree-planting holiday to be called “Arbor Day” at a meeting of the State Board of Agriculture. The date was set for April 10, 1872. Prizes were offered to counties and individuals for planting properly the largest number of trees on that day. It was estimated that more than one million trees were planted in Nebraska on the first Arbor Day.

Arbor Day is celebrated all over the world. What started in Nebraska in 1872 is celebrated by the following countries:
Australia, Brazil, Barbados, Bulgaria, Canada, China, The Commonwealth of the Northern Marianna Islands, Germany, Guam, Holland, Iceland, India, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Malta, Mexico, Namibia, New Zealand, Philippines, St. Maarten, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, Togo, Tunisia, United Kingdom.

As a child my school in Brooklyn planted a tree each year. We had an assembly, special presentations about trees and the planet, and a special ceremony to plant the tree. Without the hoopla and commercialism of Earth Day. I still remember those occasions with joy and a few tears. Today's children won't have such fond memories. They will be lectured to on how they are destroying the planet. How they have to sacrifice their lifestyle to Save the Earth. A pity. A simple tree planting ceremony has more power than any lecturer could.

I ask you. On April 26 won't you plant a tree? Keep an American Tradition alive. A tree makes your property look good, brings up your property's value, helps to clean the air, and yes, it is huggable.

ARBOR DAY FOUNDATION

Tu B'Shvat

From Judaism 101:

Tu B'Shevat, the 15th day of the Jewish month of Shevat, is a holiday also known as the New Year for Trees. The word "Tu" is not really a word; it is the number 15 in Hebrew, as if you were to call the Fourth of July "Iv July" (IV being 4 in Roman numerals). See Hebrew Alphabet for more information about using letters as numbers and why the number 15 is written this way.

As I mentioned in Rosh Hashanah, Judaism has several different "new years." This is not as strange a concept as it sounds at first blush; in America, we have the calendar year (January-December), the school year (September-June), and many businesses have fiscal years. It's basically the same idea with the various Jewish new years.

Tu B'Shevat is the new year for the purpose of calculating the age of trees for tithing. See Lev. 19:23-25, which states that fruit from trees may not be eaten during the first three years; the fourth year's fruit is for G-d, and after that, you can eat the fruit. Each tree is considered to have aged one year as of Tu B'Shevat, so if you planted a tree on Shevat 14, it begins its second year the next day, but if you plant a tree two days later, on Shevat 16, it does not reach its second year until the next Tu B'Shevat.

Tu B'Shevat is not mentioned in the Torah. I have found only one reference to it in the Mishnah, and the only thing said there is that it is the new year for trees, and there is a dispute as to the proper date for the holiday (Beit Shammai said the proper day was the first of Shevat; Beit Hillel said the proper day was the 15th of Shevat. As usual, we follow Beit Hillel. For more on Hillel and Shammai, see Sages and Scholars).

Customs

There are few customs or observances related to this holiday. One custom is to eat a new fruit on this day, or to eat from the Seven Species (shivat haminim) described in the Bible as being abundant in the land of Israel. The Shivat Haminim are: wheat, barley, grapes (vines), figs, pomegranates, olives and dates (honey) (Deut. 8:8). You can make a nice vegetarian pilaf from the shivat haminim: a bed of cooked bulgar wheat or wheat berries and barley, topped with figs, dates, raisins (grapes), and pomegranate seeds, served with a dressing of olive oil, balsamic vinegar (grapes) and pomegranate juice.

Some people plant trees on this day. In my childhood, Jewish children commonly went around collecting money to plant trees in Israel at this time of year.

In the 16th century, kabbalists, developed a seder ritual conceptually similar to the Pesach (Passover) seder, discussing the spiritual significance of fruits and of the shivat haminim. This custom spread primarily in Sephardic communities, but in recent years it has been getting more attention among Ashkenazim. Aish.com provides a traditional text for this seder. The Jewish college student organization Hillel also provides materials for a Tu B'Shevat seder.

And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as forbidden; three years shall it be as forbidden unto you; it shall not be eaten.

And in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy, for giving praise unto the LORD.

But in the fifth year may ye eat of the fruit thereof, that it may yield unto you more richly the increase thereof: I am the LORD your God.

---Leviticus 19:23-25

Happy Arbor Day!

Trees

By Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918)

I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at G-d all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in Summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only G-d can make a tree.

Arbor Day was founded in 1872 by J. Sterling Morton in Nebraska City, Nebraska. By the 1920s, each state in the United States had passed public laws that stipulated a certain day to be Arbor Day or Arbor and Bird Day observance.

The national holiday is celebrated every year on the last Friday in April; in Nebraska, it is a civic holiday. Each state celebrates its own state holiday. The customary observance is to plant a tree. On the first Arbor Day, April 10, 1872, an estimated one million trees were planted.

Unlike Earth Day, Arbor Day doesn't foster the belief in our children that the Human Race (Specifically white people of European decent.) are to blame for all the evils done to this world.  Instead it encourages all people to plant trees to help the environment, your community, and to build a good habitat for wildlife.

All that and feeling good too.

The Arbor Day Foundation is a good place to start.  They  are an excellent resource on the best species sub-species of trees to plant in your area.

AND YES, IT IS OK TO HUG A TREE TODAY!!

Happy Arbor Day

REPOST: Happy Earth Day?

A posting from last year. On this Earth Day, I will again be vocal about this holiday.

Today is Earth Day. The day we are suppose to remember the planet we live on and help clean it up. Earth Day is a made-up holiday started by some Hippies back in the 1970's as the birthday of the environmental movement.

I don't celebrate Earth Day. I don't need a day to celebrate the world. I celebrate Arbor Day. It is the United States' original Earth Day. Arbor Day this year is April 25, 2008.

What is Arbor Day you ask? I'll be glad to tell you.

The History of Arbor Day

The idea for Arbor Day originally came from Nebraska. A visit to Nebraska today wouldn't disclose that the state was once a treeless plain. Yet it was the lack of trees there that led to the founding of Arbor Day in the 1800s.

Among pioneers moving into the Nebraska Territory in 1854 was J. Sterling Morton from Detroit. He and his wife were lovers of nature, and the home they established in Nebraska was quickly planted with trees, shrubs and flowers.N

On January 4, 1872, Morton first proposed a tree-planting holiday to be called “Arbor Day” at a meeting of the State Board of Agriculture. The date was set for April 10, 1872. Prizes were offered to counties and individuals for planting properly the largest number of trees on that day. It was estimated that more than one million trees were planted in Nebraska on the first Arbor Day.

Arbor Day is celebrated all over the world. What started in Nebraska in 1872 is celebrated by the following countries:
Australia, Brazil, Barbados, Bulgaria, Canada, China, The Commonwealth of the Northern Marianna Islands, Germany, Guam, Holland, Iceland, India, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Malta, Mexico, Namibia, New Zealand, Philippines, St. Maarten, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, Togo, Tunisia, United Kingdom.

As a child my school in Brooklyn planted a tree each year. We had an assembly, special presentations about trees and the planet, and a special ceremony to plant the tree. Without the hoopla and commercialism of Earth Day. I still remember those occasions with joy and a few tears. Today's children won't have such fond memories. They will be lectured to on how they are destroying the planet. How they have to sacrifice their lifestyle to Save the Earth. A pity. A simple tree planting ceremony has more power than any lecturer could.

I ask you. On April 25, 2008 won't you plant a tree? Keep an American Tradition alive. A tree makes your property look good, brings up your property's value, helps to clean the air, and yes, it is huggable.

ARBOR DAY FOUNDATION

This year Arbor Day will be celebrated on April 24. This is the perfect time of the year to plant a tree. Won't you do your part to beautify your neighborhood? The trees planted will do much to clean the air, bring shade to your home and provide a nesting site for birds and squirrels.

Won't you help this little one find a home?

Plant a tree!

Happy Arbor Day!

On Tuesday I published the following:

Earth Day?

I don't celebrate Earth Day. I don't need a day to celebrate the world. I celebrate Arbor Day. It is the United States' original Earth Day. Arbor Day this year is April 25.

Today is Arbor Day. In celebration of this day I submit the following:

Trees
by Joyce Kilmer

I think that I shall never see,
A poem as lovely as a tree.

A tree who's hungry mouth is prest,
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast.


A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray.

A tree that may in summer wear,
A nest of robins in her hair.

Upon whose bosom snow has lain,
Who intimately lives with rain.



Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

Support the Arbor Day Foundation

Happy Earth Day?

Today is Earth Day. The day we are suppose to remember the planet we live on and help clean it up. Earth Day is a made-up holiday started by some Hippies back in the 1970's as the birthday of the environmental movement.

I don't celebrate Earth Day. I don't need a day to celebrate the world. I celebrate Arbor Day. It is the United States' original Earth Day. Arbor Day this year is April 25.

What is Arbor Day you ask? I'll be glad to tell you.

The History of Arbor DayThe idea for Arbor Day originally came from Nebraska. A visit to Nebraska today wouldn't disclose that the state was once a treeless plain. Yet it was the lack of trees there that led to the founding of Arbor Day in the 1800s.

Among pioneers moving into the Nebraska Territory in 1854 was J. Sterling Morton from Detroit. He and his wife were lovers of nature, and the home they established in Nebraska was quickly planted with trees, shrubs and flowers.N

On January 4, 1872, Morton first proposed a tree-planting holiday to be called “Arbor Day” at a meeting of the State Board of Agriculture. The date was set for April 10, 1872. Prizes were offered to counties and individuals for planting properly the largest number of trees on that day. It was estimated that more than one million trees were planted in Nebraska on the first Arbor Day.

Arbor Day is celebrated all over the world. What started in Nebraska in 1872 is celebrated by the following countries:
Australia, Brazil, Barbados, Bulgaria, Canada, China, The Commonwealth of the Northern Marianna Islands, Germany, Guam, Holland, Iceland, India, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Malta, Mexico, Namibia, New Zealand, Philippines, St. Maarten, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, Togo, Tunisia, United Kingdom.

As a child my school in Brooklyn planted a tree each year. We had an assembly, special presentations about trees and the planet, and a special ceremony to plant the tree. Without the hoopla and commercialism of Earth Day. I still remember those occasions with joy and a few tears. Today's children won't have such fond memories. They will be lectured to on how they are destroying the planet. How they have to sacrifice their lifestyle to Save the Earth. A pity. A simple tree planting ceremony has more power than any lecturer could.

I ask you. On April 25 won't you plant a tree? Keep an American Tradition alive. A tree makes your property look good, brings up your property's value, helps to clean the air, and yes, it is huggable.

ARBOR DAY FOUNDATION