"Many years ago I received a tree identification book for Christmas. I
was at my parents' home, and after all the gifts had been opened I
decided to go out and identify the trees in the neighborhood. Before I
went out, I read through part of the book. The first tree in the book
was the Joshua tree because it only took two clues to identify it. Now
the Joshua tree is a really weird-looking tree and I looked at that
picture and said to myself, "Oh, we don't have that kind of tree in
Northern California. That is a weird-looking tree, and I've never seen
one before."
So I took my book and went outside. My parents lived in a
cul-de-sac of six homes. Four of those homes had Joshua trees in the
front yard. I had lived in that house for thirteen years, and I had
never seen a Joshua tree. I took a walk around the block, and there
must have been a sale at the nursery when everyone was landscaping
their new homes-- at least 80 percent of the homes had Joshua trees in
the front yards. And I had never seen one before! Once I was conscious of the tree-- once I could name it-- I saw it everywhere."
# May 5, 2007