NATURAL PERSPECTIVES:Comfort those in need, as nature provides us comfort

When Vic and I moved into our present house back in 1988, there were four good-sized Leyland cypress trees along our back fence.

We loved the solid wall of evergreen. The trees cast cooling shadows on hot afternoons and gave us privacy.

But Huntington Beach is not a good climate for Leyland cypress. We were warned that they would get diseased, and they did. We took two out several years ago.

This year, we decided that the two remaining trees were too sick to keep. We had our tree guy, Steve Fifita, take them out last week.

Our backyard is now more open and sunnier. Vic loves it. But because I suffer in the heat, I don’t consider this a good thing. Next summer, I’ll sorely miss the shade that those trees provided.

Also, I hated to cut them down because of global warming. Trees sequester carbon as they grow and convert carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, into cellulose.

Wood is really just a lot of carbon that’s been taken out of the atmosphere. The more trees we plant, the more we fight global warming.

In anticipation of the loss of our last two cypress trees, I planted fruit trees in the backyard last spring. I added a plum, a peach, two Asian pears and an apple tree to our existing “orchard” of a Granny Smith apple, an avocado, a navel orange and two dwarf lemon trees. The new saplings all survived, although they made no fruit.

I didn’t expect fruit the first year. Actually, in our yard, I never expect fruit. Our entire harvest this year consisted of two apples.

The cypress trees were part of the reason for our consistently low yields at harvest time. All that shade was not conducive to fruit production. Another reason is that I rarely water or fertilize the yard.

Our plantings survive under a regime of benign neglect. However, if I watered just a bit more, I would not only get more fruit, I’d be helping global warming by allowing the trees to grow faster and sequester more carbon.

It’s a fine balance knowing the right thing to do for the environment — use more water and help fight global warming, or conserve water.

I have particularly neglected the yard the past year and a half. First, my mother was sick, then she died. Then, our son Bob died. I just gave up on yard care. I wasn’t motivated to work in the yard.

This past Sunday marked the one-year anniversary of our son’s death. In the tradition of the Lakota Sioux, my brother and I had performed a soul-keeping ceremony after Bob’s death. When Sioux parents lost a child, they asked a trusted relative — such as an uncle — to hold the soul of the deceased for a year.

In the Lakota belief system, there is an old woman who judges souls as they make their journey south along the Milky Way. If the soul is held back for a year, the old woman forgets who it belonged to and lets the spirit pass safely.

There were days this past year when I felt as beset with calamity as Job, but my faith is not shaken. I don’t believe that God punishes people or protects them from catastrophe. But faith in a loving God can provide comfort to troubled souls. On Sunday, my brother released Bob’s soul to continue its journey heavenward.

I’m ready to move on with life. I don’t plan to dwell on my losses or let loss define who I am. I’m ready to work in the yard again.

I want to be surrounded by color and life. A few weeks ago, I cleaned and refilled my hummingbird feeders. We’ve been visited by Anna’s hummingbirds ever since. This weekend, I filled my birdseed feeders.

My usual idea of decorating for the holidays is to put a poinsettia by the front door. This year, I bought enough poinsettias to turn our back patio into a flower shop. I put a couple of large pots with poinsettias, cyclamen and pansies in front.

I planted snapdragons and refurbished some of my potted plants. I even scooped the slimy algae out of our back patio pond and put in a new pump.

As we get ready for another holiday season, let me share with you the secret of happiness as I see it. It’s being satisfied with what you have.

The corollary is that you have to have enough — enough material goods and enough love — to have a reasonable expectation of being happy.

An important lesson is to not extend the time of grieving over what is gone, but to rejoice in what remains. There is a time to grieve, but then there is a time to let go of grief and move on.

This Christmas season, treasure your friends and family. But also remember those who don’t have as much as you do.

There are people who are hungry, even in Orange County. There are people who are trying to support their families on minimum-wage jobs and can’t afford presents for their children.

Give to those less fortunate. Do good works. Volunteer. Plant a tree. Plant 10 trees. But most of all, be happy.