Start Planting
Written by Anthony Demangone
On a hot, humid summer day, Napoleon's troops marched through France.
Shade. He'd give anything for some shade.
And then it hit him. All he had to do was plant some trees. So he ordered that French roadways be planted with trees so that his men could march in the shade.
One of his officers scoffed. It would take decades for the trees to grow high enough to provide the cool shade they needed that day.
Exactly, Napoleon said. That's why we need to start planting them today.
The story is similar to a Chinese proverb.
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today.
Or this Greek saying:
A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.
If your credit union needs shade, by all means, start planting some trees today. There's no better day to get started.
