Only God Can Make A Tree

Abby, my little biologist and botanist, took me on a tour of Canterbury University campus this week.  She knew the name of almost every bush and tree.  When God was putting the finishing touches on New Zealand, He took some extra care and creativity with the plant life.  So many of the trees remain green and beautiful all winter long.  I couldn’t help but think of the poem ‘Trees’, by Alfred Joyce Kilmer:

I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree.

Lancewood trees.  As saplings their long spikey leaves are stiff, leathery, saw blade-looking things that keep them from being devoured by animals.  As they become more lofty, their leaves soften.

This photo makes the Rimu tree look blurry.  It’s just a soft droopy tree with fine, feathery foliage that look like this close-up.

And then there’s the Cabbage Tree.  It has no resemblance at all to a cabbage.

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.

This is a relatively new campus.  The university was moved from the center of Christchurch in the 1970’s.  The architecture is anything but beautiful.  John thought it looked like some dark, futuristic movie set.  The buildings are all made of concrete, damp and darkened by all the moisture, and steel.  Here are a couple that aren’t quite as frightening.

The beauty of this campus is in it’s landscape.

One last plant, the silver fern.  This plant is the symbol for sports teams and New Zealand in general.  The fern looks normal from the top, silver underneath.

Saturday we made our weekly trip to Ashburton.  Three more students are ready to play in sacrament meeting this week.  Mata played the opening, Sala the sacrament hymn, and Marina played the closing.  Sala and Marina took turns leading.  All three were excited and very proud of themselves.  I have two more that should be ready within the next month.  They are all playing the simplified hymns, but they play them well and they sound wonderful to a branch with no pianists. 

Just a few shots taken out the car window as we drove home from Ashburton.

Seeing this double rainbow on Saturday, made me less nervous when the earth started shaking again this morning.  Doesn’t a rainbow mean we have at least another year before the end?  Today’s aftershock was a 5.5—a good shaking without any damage.

On Sunday we attended the Wainoni Young Adult Sunday School class.  This is the Samoan ward where talks and lessons are given in Samoan.  The young adults from this ward have not been participating in institute, and they rarely attend YSA activities. We wanted to invite them again.  They are such cute kids, and we were surprised to have 6 or 7 of them show up for the fast breaker later that night.  We will keep trying.  Each person adds so much.

We had another missionary leave this week.  Caesar McQueen is going to Boston.  I love seeing these young men going out to serve. 

Brother McQueen, Elder Caesar McQueen, President McDonald, and Bishop Boyd.

It’s another holiday today, the Queen’s Birthday.  No school, again.  I’m hoping that the stores are open because somehow we ended up in charge of treats for family home evening, again.  Oh well, it’s all good.