The Forest that Dad Planted! (With Pictures)

Roughly 30 years ago, my father put some tree seedlings in the pickup truck and drove us to our farm which is located in a very rural, cool, and mountainous area, which is considered one of the coldest places in Kenya. Temperatures fall to 5°C/41°F or even lower at times. Dad was making several trips to plant trees, and he wanted us to participate. His ambitious mission was to do some afforestation and re-plant trees in a section of the farm.

I was young at that time when we accompanied my father to plant the trees. I remember this day vividly because I asked my dad repeatedly as to when the trees would grow. Dad said it would take almost 30 years to mature, and I wondered how long that was. Once the trees were planted, my dad walked with us around the farm and helped us pick wild berries because we were hungry (we had spent almost a full day there!). Over the years, we made several trips to inspect the trees, and we tried to etch our names on the trees hoping we could identify them later. As we got older, we got preoccupied with other activities and didn’t frequent the farm much. My father would later make solo trips with mom to see the trees.

Two weeks ago, my sister decided to visit the farm. She went with her tiny white sedan, and once she pulled in, she was amazed at the mature trees that she saw. Dad had planted trees that were of cypress and blue gum species. She took a picture in the location that had some sunlight to share it with me. In her Facebook post, she wrote, “…Dad planted this for us.” This made me cry because my sister is now 30 ½ years old, and according to my mom, she was possibly a few months old when dad initially planted the trees. So in short, she is almost as old as the trees! It reminds me of a post that I put up three years ago called Seed, planted; not buried. Please click here and read because it totally complements this post, and I don’t want to repeat myself. 🤣

This picture warmed my heart because dad left us a lovely reminder (the forest) of all the sweet memories we shared that are ingrained in our hearts. When I look at the picture, it takes me back to 30 years ago when we planted the trees with dad. Sigh…I truly miss him, but at the same time, I thank God for the time He blessed me with my dad here on earth. ❤️

Hugs!