ON A FARM AMONG VENERABLE OLD GIANTS

 

Adonsonia digitata - give your imagination wings

My wife and I spent a few days visiting a group of venerable old giants. Three, four, even five times a day I went to chat to them. I spoke to them, touched them, and told them that I simply could not understand.

They did not remain silent.

Every day they welcomed me with open trunks and luxuriant leaves, and they answered me. Their awe-inspiring, gigantic forms and quiet presence were, at every moment, their conversation with anyone willing to spend time listening.

Simply to be in their presence was an experience.

I, a human being barely 76 years old, standing before these giants — known as Adansonia digitata —was confronted by an overwhelming presence, and I found myself a bit uneasy. However, impressive humanity may be, these trees have stood here for centuries. They were already here at a time when Jan van Riebeeck was not even an infant.

Spend time with these giants - you will be rewarded. Don't rush in their presence - they can wait. 

André P. Brink, himself a giant of South African literature, writes of Kupido Kakkerlak (please read BIDSPRINKAAN) that there are certain people whose backgrounds are so eventful and so extraordinary that the best way to approach them is to sit quietly and let your imagination wander to places you have never been.

Well, I believe that Adansonia invites you to speculate freely, to dream, and to let your imagination run wild. However, you ought to be quiet when you are in the presence of a baobab tree—especially those on Glencoe Farm near Hoedspruit in Limpopo.

As you lean against the trunk of Adansonia, reflect on Psalm 1 in the Holy Scriptures. The description of a tree planted beside living waters may well strike you deeply. But be careful not to become captivated by that description alone.

There is so much more than meets the eye.

It is not the only tree worthy of admiration. Stretch your imagination and broaden your vision.

Just take time and look at trees

Look at trees.

Acacia trees.

Oak trees.

Peach trees.

Pride of India.

I even have a “pronksterttuitpeulboom” growing in my nursery, which I raised from a single seed.

Do you know what a “pronksterttuitpeulboom” looks like?

Not?

Neither do I.

I have no idea what it will eventually look like. Mine is only a one-year-old seedling. I have never seen one fully grown in real life, yet I am raising one.

As you look at my photographs, I want to ask you to give wings to your imagination. Step into the world of your imagination and tell yourself a bedtime story.

Another of our South African writers—also a giant—is Wilma Stockenström. She wrote the novel KREMETARTEKSPEDISIE, which was translated into English as EXPEDITION TO THE BAOBAB TREE (J. M. Coetzee, Nobel Laureate in Literature). I took my own copy with me and introduced it to the baobab trees on Glencoe Farm. They now know that Wilma captured their story in words.

Now, I invite you to look at the tree upon which Jesus Christ hung—suspended there by His hands and His feet with a stately crown of thorns from a thorn tree. Reflect on why He did so, and then write me a letter:

neelscoertse@wirelessza.co.za](mailto:neelscoertse@wirelessza.co.za