My Fathers

About a year ago, I bought a new home.  Not just any home.  I am blessed to live in the home and the setting of my dreams--my arcadia.  How this all came to be is a story in itself.  As happy as I am to be where I am, I am saddened by thoughts that my dad will never see this place.  My dad was gifted in landscaping and when I look around, I have so many questions for him.  What kind of plants should I put here?  Does this tree need to come down? When should I prune these shrubs?  What do you mean that's poison ivy?!
Even without my Dad telling me, I knew I had a large, dead oak tree near the house that had to come down.  I hired a company to come out and give me an estimate.  The two men who came out did just that, but they also started pointing out a lot of other things that needed to be done.  Everything they told me was exactly what my dad would have said if he was here.  At first it made me smile (a little sadly), then it made me tear up, and finally, it made me laugh.
On the day they came out to do the work, they continued to give me advice that was perfectly in line with my dad's way of thinking. 
I know there are a lot of people who believe that God is some sort of stand-off-ish figure who created the world and now just sits back and watches what happens--not really caring.  I believe that that can't be further from the truth.  I look at that day as a gift from God.  That whole experience was my Father who is always here with me, showing compassion to me because my heart aches for my father who is no longer here.
There is a spot in my front yard that needs a tree.  That day, I asked the landscape guy if he thought a Colorado blue spruce would look good there.  He said, "Yeah, either that or a Cryptomeria Japonica."
Cryptomeria Japonica was one of my dad's favorites.  That is what I'm going to plant there.