Biggest Tree In The Forest

There was a big tree in the Raccoons back yard. The tree was certainly one of the biggest trees in the forest. Possibly, one of the biggest trees there ever was.

The Raccoon had no plaque or sign or decree commemorating the biggest tree in the forest and felt that the time had come to officially recognize the tree for its hard work and achievement.

It's nice to be recognized for hard work as hard work is rarely observed directly. Hard work is usually only observed indirectly, through results. Like when a tree slowly grows over hundreds and hundreds of years and then one day a Raccoon is walking by, looks up at it, and exclaims:

"Holy Moly, that sure is a big 'ol tree!":

So the Raccoon set out to petition the local government to officially declare the tree the Biggest Tree in the Forest. The Raccoon figured this shouldn't be too difficult. She hadn't seen a tree bigger and she had certainly seen a lot of trees.

Well, the government informed the Raccoon that they couldn't simply anoint anything the Biggest X of the Forest unless there was a period or public announcement. Then, if anyone had any other nominations for the biggest tree they could be brought forth, properly evaluated, and only then would a final judgement be rendered.

The Raccoon couldn't believe this was going to be so complicated. [Narrator's aside: Come on now, you have to anticipate some bureaucracy, Raccoon. After all, this is the *government* we're talking about] But she figured what could hurt. The tree she knew was certainly the biggest and during this public comment period, it would only continue to work hard and get bigger.

Many trees were submitted during public comment and some certainly came close to being as big as the Big Tree but none was able to outdo it. The Raccoon would keep the Tree abreast of the situation letting it know that so far none had been able to match or beat the tree's bigness.

The Big Tree, however, never put too much weight into the updates. What difference did they make, really? The tree appreciated the Racoon's efforts but in the end, what did a sign matter? After all, if the tree stopped doing the hard work, if she assumed that once she was anointed Biggest Tree in the Forest she could stop getting bigger and rest on her laurels, then sooner or later another tree would in fact pass her up to take the title.

So the tree just kept doing the hard work. She did it while the Biggest Tree designation was still being debated. She did it while the decision was finally official to designate her the Biggest Tree in the Forest. She did it during the dedication ceremony itself, and she continued to do it even once all the pomp and circumstance subsided.

For even though hard work is never directly observed, its rewards are reaped by the ones who value it for what it is.