I can imagine how our neighbors felt. They sold their house and were ready to move on. Tying up loose ends they spent several weeks selling, donating, and rehoming household items. To make matters a little trickier, their next destination was not another house but the open road. Moving into their RV meant anything that wasn’t sold or given away, had to be stored. But what about those things that couldn’t be boxed up and stowed away? We’d been there before.
From my journal: June 27, 2000, Fountain Hills, Arizona
“…yay! Donna will take them…a few years old, they’re doing well…one less thing to worry about.”
What do you do when you have items you can’t take with you? Like the living, breathing, nurtured from seed, bulb, or sprout mood lifters that connect us with Mother nature. The natural air purifiers, oxygen level boosters, and carbon dioxide absorbers. The mental fatigue combaters, calming environment providers, and overall health improvers, our beloved plants.
Our neighbors had no trouble giving away their pothos, ferns, and peace lilies. Their daughter had perfect spaces in her apartment for them. But there was one unique plant that proved to be harder to place. They posted “her” on Nextdoor in hopes someone would or could make room. No takers. They reached out to friends, relatives, and people in the area with no luck. Then, we got the call.
Did we want an indoor tropical evergreen with dark green wavy 18-inch broad leaves that are shaped like violins? One with the smooth light gray bark that texturizes with age? A Ficus lyrata that they had nurtured for ten years since it was a foot tall?
We were assured that it was healthy, easy to care for, but there was one attribute that we needed to consider, so they texted us a pic. I immediately said yes, but one question still remained. Would she fit into our house? Not fit as in style, aesthetic, but fit as in size. Height-wise. She is tall! You may ask, “How tall is she?” The answer: a mere 12 feet! Stella, as she is named, is towering, lofty, she is quite lanky.
We have one space where our dining area, foyer, and family room meet. There the ceiling is about 14 feet tall, so we figured that would work. The Sunday morning, we went to pick up Stella, I was a bit stunned. She looked even taller in person! As in the fairy tale, no doubt Stella, like Jack’s beanstalk could easily reach a castle high in the sky above the clouds. My head leaned back, way back as I took in her full stature.
Firmly rooted into a large container, the guys lifted her onto a base with wheels, leaned her horizontally, then each of the four of us manned a section. Up the street, and three houses down we went. It took some finagling to get her through our front door, but we did it. Placing her in the corner, the air flow, space, and natural light are just right.
With us for over a month now, Stella, our fiddle leaf fig tree has been a welcome addition to our home. Her presence offers calmness, beauty, and a warmth to our daily life. She brings us closer to nature as we care for her and she cares for us, with the added benefit of reminding us of our dear neighbors. And while they are beginning a new chapter in their life, Stella is too. We are looking forward to growing together.
A Journal Journey 