Once there was a tree,
And she loved a little girl.
And every day the girl would come
And try to climb.
At first the girl fell every time.
Then she fell some of the time.
Then she made it to a safe branch every time
And sat
And swung
And jumped to the ground
And did it all over again.
And the tree was very happy.
Time went by and the girl grew older.
One day she came to the tree
And the tree said “come, climb on me!”
“I am too busy and frustrated to climb” said the girl.
“I need to add and subtract and I don’t get it.”
“Bummer,” said the tree, “but I’m no teacher.
I have only lemons. Maybe if you make lemonade
And sell it and give people the correct change
You will get it.”
And so the little girl climbed up the tree
And picked the lemons and made lemonade
And sold it and learned how to add and subtract.
And the tree was very happy.
Time went by and the girl grew up.
When she passed the tree
The tree grew excited and said
“Come, climb on me!”
“I am too tired and frustrated to climb” said the girl.
“I want to do well in college
And learn
And grow
But my professors lecture
And bore
And put me to sleep
And I just don’t get The Impact of Climate Change in Rural American Farming Communities 1923-present”
“I am not a professor,” said the tree.
“But the impact of climate change
has been my life.
You may cut down my trunk
And examine the thickness of my rings
And count my rings
And research what happened over all that time.
And maybe you will have a better understanding
And you will be happy.”
The girl cut down the tree
And counted the rings
And did some research
And was finally able to relate to the topic
And the tree was very happy
Time went by and the girl landed her dream job
She came upon the tree.
The tree was excited to see the girl
But said
“I am sorry, I’m no longer much fun to climb.”
“I am much too preoccupied to climb,”
Said the girl.
“I just need a place to sit
And to think.
I have a presentation to give tomorrow
And I need to put my slides together
Which means I probably need a power source, too.”
The tree reflected a moment and said,
“I’m not a professional trainer
And I have no power to offer you
But you always seemed to learn something
When we were together.
You learned to try
And fail
And try again
And fail
And try yet again
Until you reached a safe branch.
You learned to turn
Lemons into lemonade
And to count
And give people correct change.
You mastered history
And biology
And climate change.
You learned it all by doing.
Without slides.”
The girl sat.
She looked around.
She planned.
She didn’t use slides.
And the tree was very happy.
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