"The Czech Republic’s Guardian of the Flooded Village pine is this year’s winner of the prestigious European Tree of the Year award..."

"... with Croatia’s Ginkgo from Daruvar securing the second and Russia’s Lonely Poplar the third place" (The Guardian).

Photographs and stories of some wonderful trees.

Good for the soul.

These trees will help you, maybe a bit like the Guardian of the Flooded Village protected Chudobín, during the construction of the Vír dam when, they say, a devil sat under it at night, playing the violin.

We have some guardian trees in our neighborhood. I've been writing from a second-story sunroom overlooking the street, and through the trees I have seen neighbors walking border collies and young boys on roller skates. I have yet to see the devil or even anyone playing a violin, but there was a carpenter within earshot, singing in a beautiful voice.

"The devil has two strategies: the seduction of worldly promises... self-realization, careerism, and worldly success...."

"... and when this fails... there is humiliation, there is rage.... His pride is so great that he enjoys destroying with rage.... May the Lord give us the grace to be able to recognize that spirit that wants to destroy us with fury and when that same spirit wants to console us with worldly appearances, with vanity.... May the Lord give us the grace to discern the path of the Lord, which is the cross, from the path of the world, which is vanity, appearances, window-dressing."

Said the Pope, in Rome, where the coronavirus rages, though this homily seems to speak to people who are enjoying good times — self-realization, careerism, worldly success, vanity, appearances, window-dressing. But that gives it special effect: Those things you used to enjoy were never good for you, and if you are forced to relinquish them, well, you ought to have given them up on your own.

I don't know if the Pope connected these thoughts to the coronavirus, but I note that the word "quarantine" originally referred to the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert tempted by the devil. There was a temptation to worldly success:

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

So, when you are in your quarantine, you may long for all the vanity, appearances, window-dressing you have given up. The response from Jesus was:

"Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'"