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Apr 15, 2006

"It would be foolish for an acorn to try to make itself a bigger acorn when, deep down, it is an oak." --Tad Hargrave

Many Acorns, Many Oaks

Fact or fiction, can't say, but it's inspiring, and it's about the difference a single determined person can make in the world when they put their mind and body to the task. Elzeard Bouffier, a pre-WWI shepherd in solitude, takes it upon himself to restore the ruined ecosystem of the isolated and largely abandoned valley in the French Alps by singled-handedly cultivating a forest, tree by tree, planting acorns that he has collected from a location many miles away. His progress is marked by a lost hiker who returns to see him periodically, astounded by the transformations that take place in the years he is off living his own life. It’s an inspirational tale about the awe inspiring power of nature and the shining hope that can emerge from the most unlikely of places. Read the story here.