During the pandemic, there are only two types of days: the days you receive packages and the days you do not. On 'delivery' days, my son and my dog both swarm the door when the new box is brought inside—a very exciting, but chaotic scene. 

Just the other day, a package of saplings arrived at the front door, so this 'delivery day' was extra exciting. I looked at the package of trees that had just been delivered and questioned if this was really a great time to be planting. That’s when it came to me: these trees would be the perfect entertainment my son was in such dire need of, even if it was for just a half an hour or so. 

 I scooped up a bucket of soil from the garden and searched around for cans, jars, solo cups, whatever I could find and set it all up in the garage. I thought about how much I loved playing in the dirt when I was a kid and was sure that my son would feel the same way, especially in the middle of winter when we had no business being outside. 

We spent most of the time “digging” and “mixing” but nearly every scoop full of soil was put around the trees by him. He planted his first tree and now we can watch them grow together. 
#borntogrow 


Erich Schupp, Operations Manager