Our home tree is a strudy oak that towers along beside the road on which we live. It's the place we turn a little over a mile from our house. Our home tree makes it easy for me to give directions to our house too. Well..you just turn beside Max PJ, the big tree, I say and we're about a mile and a quarter down on the right.
Have you figured out where that name came from yet? Have you ever seen A Goofy Movie? Well we have (lots and lots of times, I might add), thanks to our son, Colt. He loved that movie! Remember the character's names? There was Max, who was Goofy's son, and then there was PJ, who was Pete's son. (Recognize the theme song in the background?....sorry if the beginning of it scared you...it scared me to death when I came back here with the beginning drum sound...forgive me..but I had to put it on here!) :)
When Colt was only two years old, he named the tree, Max PJ. When we would make that turn, he knew we were getting close to being home. So one day as we passed by it, he said, "That's our home tree!" "See it's got it's arms reaching out saying....Welcome Home!" "It's giving us a big hug...It's our home tree!" He thought a minute and added, "His name is Max PJ." It didn't take me long to figure out where that came from!
So that day, that huge oak tree because OUR home tree, our Max PJ. To this day, that is how we refer to being home, or to tell others where to turn. I found this picture of Colt when he was about 7...May of 1996....taken beside Max PJ.
That was so far away...here's a little closer of him...I guess I was trying to make sure I got Max PJ and Colt kind of looks like a munchkin'...well he was! :)
Then here he is (at age 19) the other day beside Max PJ. I stopped the car and pulled out my camera and he posed for me! (He doesn't look very happy here...but he really didn't mind...I think he was asking where he should stand and turning different ways and I snapped the picture).
Now if I had really been thinking...we would have yearly pictures of Colt beside Max PJ. Actually I did think of it later on (after the 7 year old picture), but it seemed to always have tall grass growing around it and we were always afraid of what was lurking in there! Plus you know how life gets....one day passes...then the next...then you turn around and they're 19 years old! Sigh!
Max PJ is special to us and I hope he stands for many years to come...because I hope to introduce my grandkids one day to our home tree, our friend, Max PJ.
