The empty nest years can be a “tight ring season.”
That’s a term coined by Marci Seither and her husband after a customer hired the Seithers’ sawmill in Northern California to remove a huge tree from the spot where their new home would be built. Feeling it a shame to lose such a beautiful tree, the homeowners planned to recycle the lumber by using it in the house’s construction.
But once they cut down the tree, they discovered the wood was too weak to use. The rings were too far apart. After years of soaking rain and ample sunshine, the tree had grown big and lush, but it hadn’t developed much inner strength.
Tight rings reveal seasons of heat and drought where a tree slows its growth, so it can dig its roots deeper into the soil for nourishment. Tight rings indicate stress, but they create strength.
The concept of tight tree rings has become a metaphor for Marci Seither and her husband. When their family experiences some kind of stress, they tell each other, “This’ll be a tight-ring season.”
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