The Bamboo Farmer's Secret

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Rea,

Would you keep watering a garden if nothing grew for five years? Most people would probably give up after a few weeks, thinking they were doing something wrong. But there’s a remarkable tree that tests the patience of farmers in China in exactly this way - the Moso bamboo.

These bamboo farmers do something that seems almost magical. Every single day, they water and tend to their bamboo fields. Day after day, season after season, they keep caring for what looks like empty soil. For five whole years, nothing visible happens above ground. No sprouts, no leaves, not even a tiny shoot. Just dirt.

But these farmers know something incredible is happening beneath the surface. Deep underground, the bamboo is building an elaborate network of roots. These roots stretch out hundreds of feet, creating a foundation so strong it can support what happens next.

Then, in the sixth year, something extraordinary occurs. The bamboo suddenly shoots up from the ground and grows up to 90 feet tall in just six weeks! During this growth spurt, the bamboo can grow as much as 3 feet in a single day - that’s like growing from your toes all the way up to your shoulders in just 24 hours! You can almost watch it grow.

Think about that for a moment: five years of seemingly nothing, then suddenly one of the fastest-growing plants on Earth. Those patient farmers knew that all that time when nothing seemed to be happening, the bamboo was actually building its foundation. Without those five years of root development, the bamboo could never grow so tall so quickly.

Nature often works this way - the most important growth happens where we can’t see it. Just like the bamboo’s roots, many things in life need time to develop strong foundations. Those pre-ensemble music classes might feel slow and repetitive right now - all those scales and exercises on the double bass that seem to go nowhere. But these moments may be just like the bamboo’s roots growing underground. Each practice session builds the foundation that will one day let you join the full orchestra, making amazing music with everyone else!

Is there something you’re working on right now that doesn’t seem to be changing or improving, even though you’re trying hard? Maybe it feels like those bamboo farmers staring at empty soil. What if, just like the bamboo, all your effort is building an incredible foundation that you just can’t see yet?

Love, Abba

P.S. Did you know that bamboo is technically a type of grass? It’s just a really, really big one!