Literacy Lover

After introducing Sharon Wyeth’s, Something Beautiful, I modeled a piece of writing sparked by reading the story.  My own story came only after brainstorming descriptions of the tree that used to stand in my backyard. Choosing the something beautiful to write about was difficult as I have many beautiful things in my life.  I chose the tree because it posed a challenge and I thought modeling the brainstorming would be more authentic.   

 Trees in general are plentiful around my neighborhood.  There are tall ones, short ones, old ones, new ones, and even ones with fruit, but this tree, my tree, was something special.  The mighty redbud that used to stand at the top of the first terrace in my backyard is my something beautiful.  She stood there on watch, as if she were protecting us. She gazed out over us, like a bodyguard watching all the little children and keeping them safe.  She kept track of time for us as well.  When the bare branches became sprinkled with green buds, we knew it was spring.  She told us it was summer when she was ablaze with fuchsia blooms.  They were so breathtaking; it was almost as if you couldn’t see any of the other trees that fell around her.  She took center stage.  When the ground was blanketed in that same fuchsia, fall had arrived.  And when her branches were tipped with white and naked of any color, we knew it was winter.  Today there is no bodyguard or timekeeper, just a smooth patch of grass where she once stood.  Only the memory of her existence remains.  Now that she is gone, how will we know the season and who will keep the children safe when we aren’t looking?  When we move, who will tell her story?