In My Opinion

Hi Readers –

Planting a Tree...

This week I planted a tree. I find planting a tree is always a great experience.

Sometimes I start with a site that needs a tree. Sometimes I start with a tree that needs a site. In this case I started with a site that needed a tree. Last winter an old, pine tree-friend that had occupied my site had had to be removed (Everyone cried.). It had grown HUGE and its roots had invaded the sewer line (Come to think of it, not everyone cried. The plumber didn’t.).

Spring came, and it was time for me to plant a new tree.

First I had to figure what kind of tree I wanted for the site. So I made a list of the traits I wanted in a tree. Huge pine trees were out. I knew I wanted a drought-resistant, native tree. I also wanted one that would provide year-round cover for birds. I wanted a tree that wouldn’t grow too big and invade sewer lines. Finally it couldn’t have giant thorns or be poisonous to neighborhood kids, cats, dogs, birds or me.

I looked up tree traits and discovered that a Yaupon Holly perfectly met my needs. So I went on a hunt for Yaupon Holly trees at my local nurseries. I quickly found one that would work. I measured the tree’s root ball every which way, paid for the tree, went home and dug a hole to measure, and waited for the tree to be delivered. On Tuesday my Yaupon Holly magically appeared right next to the hole I had dug (Thank you, delivery elves whoever you are.). I re-measured the root ball and the hole, and did my happy dance because they matched perfectly. I tipped the tree over and gently tugged. It popped right out of its container. I maneuvered it into the hole, replaced the soil, and gently watered the tree. Amazing! I think this was the easiest tree planting I had ever experienced.

My tree planting feeling washed over me. I realized what I had done wasn’t just for me. It was for the future. It was for everyone who would pass under the tree’s shade on a hot day, who would breathe the oxygen that tree produced, who enjoyed the tree’s beauty, and the birds that that tree fed and protected. Planting a tree is for me and for people whom I will never know, but who will know this tree.

Planting a tree is a believing-in-tomorrow thing to do.

For me, each issue of 4 Star Stories is like planting a tree. It is making choices. It is working on each issue with the writers and my fellow editor. It is polishing each issue until it is publishable. Then it is published. Amazing!

I love when each issue of 4 Star Stories is published. I always feel proud (and relieved). Then I realize 4 Star Stories has gone out into the world to touch people I don’t know, people whom I may never know and I feel wonder, gratitude, and hope. The same feelings I experience when I plant a tree.

In this Issue of 4 Star Stories we offer our readers some wonderful stories that pose some really puzzling questions: What if an alien fell out of a tree and invited you to go away with him? What if you found an old-man who could repair the things you had broken as a child? What if you found a biological warfare agent that gave the world a whole new perspective? What if you got together with cloned sisters, a down-on-his-luck ship captain, and an alien seller of potable liquids on a hostile world? In this issue we answer all of these questions and much, much more!

Enjoy! And believe in tomorrow.

And this is 4 Star Stories, Winter 2013, Issue #Twelve!

Enjoy!

I look forward to seeing you in the Spring 2014 Issue of 4 Star Stories.

The Editors: M. Gray and D. Gray

P.S. We are open for submissions. If you are a serious writer and you have a story you think meets our criteria, send it along to us. We would like to read it.

At 4 Star Stories, we are looking for well-written, original Science Fiction and Fantasy short stories, preferably with an upbeat, positive attitude.

For all da' rules, checkout our Submissions page.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Oh, and writers, remember to self-edit and spell check every story before you send it to us, or to anyone else for that matter. Reading a clean, error-free manuscript makes editors happy, and a happy editor is more likely to publish your story.

Your Editor,

Gray

4 Star Stories is an online speculative fiction magazine that publishes 4 short stories, Science Fiction and Fantasy, 4 times per year. Come and join us each season. Tell your friends about us. Read the stories, look at the art, have some fun. We are. It's important.

Hearing from you is important too. We value your opinions. Click on Contact the Editors to send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you.

[Index] [About Us] [Stories] [Guest Art] [Editors Write] [In My Opinion] [Archives] [Contact Us] [Links]