Good night Positrons! What did we learn today? I got to thinking about a funny story today. Its the story of my father, Robert Earl Lindquist verses the worlds most gigantic Cottonwood tree on the planet. 216 Polk street was located very close to the Red River of the North. The only other river in all of the world that runs true north. And the other river is.....The Nile in Egypt. Also....the Red Lake River and the Red River meet in Grand Forks, ND. Thus the name Grand Forks, two mighty rivers merging, one flowing South and the other flowing north. It made for some very scary currents and one heck of a nasty undertow. If one was to fall in at that watery precipice, it wasnt going to be pretty! The Chippewa, the Sioux and the Lakota Indians revered the Cottonwood trees, and those rivers. They would refer to the Cotton woods as the talking trees that would sing a song. They have very waxy leaves and in the breeze, they may a most wonderful, haunting sound. When the Indians heard the sound of these trees they always knew a water source was close by. There was also a wonderful story told by the Native Americans called The girl that climbed to the sky. And she reached the sky by means of a Cotton wood tree. They are just that mighty and substantial! The trees and the river were always closely related! The Cottonwood is possibly the dirtiest trees ever, though. They go through many stages of annoying shedding. First of course, was the cotton, that sometimes gets so thick in the air that it looks sometimes like an all out snow storm! Gets in your eyes, ears and even in your mouth. Then the tree goes into the stage in which it spews out the crunchy husks that the cotton was once itself, was housed in. Then onto the most irritating of all... the sticky Seed pods that adhere themselves to everything in site! On the feet, on your shoes, on your pants, shirt, and even into our house! Basically it was everywhere. They were as sticky as superglue! On the border of our lot line was a 100 year old Cottonwood. It was freaking huge! It was technically in Grandma Petersons yard. And sweet little Grandma Peterson, she didnt care for it either. But she couldnt afford to have it taken down. In all of my youth I remember my dad always being at odds with that tree! It was hilarious! My dad would always be dreaming up new ways to kill it! And try, he did! I remember once he came home with this acid, from a construction site. He bored holes in the side of the tree and poured in the acid. He did it over and over. But the tree just grew taller and stronger just to spite Old Battling Bob! I also remember him putting used oil near the base of the tree to try to kill the roots. But, to no avail. Then there was the bizarre substance that he brought from one of the work sites, that was thick like tar and smelled terrible. Rumor had it there was possibly uranium in it! Ha! I remember him putting on all of his welding gear and a face mask, when he bored those holes and crammed that mystery substance, deep into the bark of the tree. And....you guessed it.....the damn tree just got stronger! Then there was the 8 foot copper pole! He had researched and found that these trees could often be killed if you drove copper spikes into its roots. I watched my dad for a good six hours drive that freaking spike into that tree with a sledge hammer! My dad was one tough dude. Strong as all get out! He was the mighty viking warrior! But, on the other hand my father would meticulously trim this tree. He espoused to hating this tree, but he also cared for it a great deal too. What gives dad? My dad passed away on a cold February day in 1988. And ostensibly, that tree won by default! My dear old Pops, just couldnt get that dang tree to die! But there is a part of me that likes to think that my father climbed that thing to its proverbial top that February 3rd, of 1988, and reached into the sky and then, into heaven itself, where he is today! Just like the old Indian story. Now every now and then I make a pilgrimage back to Grand Forks. My childhood neighborhood is no longer standing. The flood of 1997 took that entire side of town. 216 Polk street is now part of a Frizbee Golf course. And very close by the Frizbee basket, on hole number 8 stands that freakn Cottonwood! I kid you not! Im most sure that thing will outlive me as well! Aint nobody gonna beat that old tree! Never! ;-) Booooooooya, Andy Out!
Posted on: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 05:11:28 +0000
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