Mailbag - June 2019

BRANCHING OUT Next to his oak, Brantley Payne holds a copy of Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree. Both the book and the tree were gifts from St. Martin’s Episcopal Preschool nine years ago. (Photo: lawellphoto.com)

Trees that give

I just finished reading the sweet article about Brantley’s Giving Tree [The Giving Tree, by Jennifer Oakley, May 2019]. We also planted a sapling in our front yard when our first grandson was born in 2008 which is now at a second floor level. We call it Will’s tree, and marvel also at its growth. There are several huge oak trees on the track near the LS [St. John’s School Lower School] that have big beautiful acorns every year. My husband, Bill, loves to grow trees from seed, so he has grown at least 10 “St. John’s Oaks” that I can remember. We moved into our house on Tangley in 1992, and, like Johnny Appleseed, he planted 4 or 5 on our street. The one next door is really gorgeous! Trees with a story are so much fun!

Kathy Van Wie

Inspiration after devastation

Trees that Feed Body and Soul [Bearing Fruit, by Jennifer Oakley, April 2019] seemed to be calling out my name. Then, as if by magic, the Levys delivered a fruit tree! From Harvey who almost destroyed us to Syma and Darryl who inspired us … they gave us a housewarming gift of a tree. Not just any tree, but a satsuma orange tree that will grow and give us beautiful satsumas just like Darryl grows in their backyard. Life does go on, and this gift will be our "Giving Tree" for years to come. And the Levys have now inspired me – I bought a kumquat tree to grow by the satsuma. A big shout out to The Buzz and an even bigger thank you to Syma and Darryl Levy! Next year I hope to have fruit for everyone!

Randi and Marty Rosenkrantz

Fruits of their labor

I never thought there are so many people interested in citrus trees! The article [by Jennifer Oakley, April 2019] was so beautifully written; I especially loved the lemon tree story. So many friends have reached out to us inquiring about where to get satsuma and kumquat trees and which variety to buy. I even connected a client, and now good friend, with Darryl because her grandson has asked her for an orange tree of his own. I can’t wait to see the first fruits of this child’s tree and even better to see his face when he picks and eats the fruits of his labor. In the past month, Darryl has planted a citrus tree in the home of our really good friends, we have given two trees to some special people to show our appreciation and delivered a tree to a family, who flooded two times, and just moved back to their new build home as a housewarming gift. Of course, all these trees were given with a lovely card ... The Buzz with Darryl’s autograph!

Syma Levy 

Kudos to travel writer Tracy 

I have always enjoyed reading your Travel Buzz column. Never boring, very intuitive and always intriguing. Travel and photo journalists have always been inspiring to me. Thank you for sharing my thoughts and photos with your readers. You made it seem so effortless [In the Holy Land, by Tracy L Barnett, April 2019]. I wanted to somehow inspire others to visit Petra and the Holy Land, so I appreciate this more than you know. 

Allen Emerson

Loud restaurants are pet peeve

I was so pleased to read the article about noise in restaurants [Restaurant Noise, by Dai Huynh, May 2019] and am delighted that this issue is being discussed. Very loud restaurants have been a pet peeve of mine for years. Much has been made of volume (and potential damage) when using earbuds and headphones. And yet, people seem happy to sit with their children in a restaurant so loud that you have to shout at the person next to you to be heard. 

However, the article did not mention music volume which, in my experience, is often the culprit. And, music volume is perhaps the easiest and least costly thing to change. Several times in the recent past while dining in popular restaurants (not fast casual), I have been unable to hear my server and vice versa because the music was so loud. There are several restaurants that I like but no longer go to because the level of noise ruins the dining experience. I hope you will continue to cast light on this issue.

Sharon Turner

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