Money Tree

There, just beneath the rhododendron plant that sits in the box outside of the church, a glint of silver caught my eye. A quarter. Growing up I was one of those kids who would be on his stomach with a stick fishing change out from underneath coke machines. Often I would find enough change underneath the machine to buy a soda from within it. Even to this day I look in newspaper change returns with the hope of finding a quarter left behind by some harried businessman too busy to stop and take back what he had put in.

The quarter was only one of 30 I found as my hands dug into the cool, moist earth beneath its rich branches. I don’t know why there were quarters buried beneath this plant but I would like to believe some child had planted a quarter there some years back. Maybe he planted the quarter after hearing his father say something like, “what do you think, money grows on trees?” in hopes that if he invested this quarter in the ground money would grow on trees, or even perhaps beneath it.

So I reaped the benefits sown by an imaginative child many years ago. I used most of the mud stained change today to feed the washer and dryer at the Laundromat. I guess you could say I took someone’s hopes and dreams and washed my clothing with them.

For those of you who have always wondered what a “money tree” looks like, wonder no more. Here is a picture of one.