Taylor's Distress

I'm not sure what caused me to find it. Perhaps Taylor was just making his usual music and I wanted to be close. This is the season when he becomes compelling, alluring, snazzy and dressed fit to kill. You can't walk by Taylor and not be pulled in his direction.



Taylor's full name is Pinus contortus 'Taylor's Sunburst', and the name fits, especially in spring. He is a stately and solid dwarf Lodgepole pine all year long. His song is very much like Bach's Third Brandenburg Concerto. But in spring he earns his royal title "Sunburst" as the tip of every branch bursts forth in sun-kissed yellow, light reaching to light. He even adorns himself with rubies. Stunning!



On this day, however, all was not well. Perhaps I heard the discord in the song, or saw something not quite right in his interior. Ugly pinkish-gray masses, like some terrifying alien beings, had attached themselves to his trunk. Cautiously, I touched them and found them soft but not sticky, like some weird infection encased in a skin.

There is a conifer discussion forum on the web populated by some quite mysterious beings with names like coniferjoy, sprucebud, tsugajunkie, monkeytreeboy. I'm not sure they're human. More like two-legged databases. They call themselves Coneheads (conifers=cones) and they all LOVE conifers. I know they will have some information for me, so I post my S.O.S. message with the picture. Sure enough, within hours I have my diagnosis. Sequoia Moth! This devil lays the egg, and the larva bores in until the tree oozes pitch, which essentially seals him inside where he can eat to his heart's content. There is no medicine for this, no chemical treatment. The only option is to remove the glob and find the offender. I see at least three of these patches, and I'm glad they are within my reach. Nasty! I actually found one of the grubs, and the assassination felt good!

Taylor will survive. But he is forever weakened and disfigured. A strong wind or heavy snowload could cause him to break. My heart is heavy as I think of his helplessness. No matter how strong and stately he was, he had no resources to fight this insidious enemy.

As humans we fight these battles as well. Cancers and other diseases can strike us when we least expect them. One of my loved ones just had surgery for a nasty sarcoma on his thigh and I imagine it looked a lot like this. And in the unseen world of our spirit, the enemy comes at us with vicious and nasty weapons, with the intent of chewing away at our faith until we topple and can be devoured. Sometimes the only help for us is the Heavenly putty knife in the hands of the Great Physician. I love knowing He hovers over us, watching us, protecting us, de-bugging us! He is faithful!