“Good job. Thank you.”

A man’s voice came from behind me. I was slowly pouring water from a green plastic watering can into a pair of Gator slow-release watering bags that I’d wrapped around a 9” river birch tree trunk. In Eastern Massachusetts, we’re experiencing severe drought and many of the trees planted in the sidewalk near our house are looking a bit limp. They need about 40 gallons of water a month and we’re nowhere close to that in rainfall.

“Good morning,” I replied, turning to see two late-middle aged people who’d stopped on their morning walk to comment. “Happy Sunday.”

They both smiled. “Happy Sunday,” he responded. “We’ve lived for 30 years near the park on the next street over and we’ve never seen a summer like this.”

“Well, congratulations on your long relationship and tenure in the neighborhood and, yes, it’s been dry. And hot.”

His wife nodded. “We’ve been watering four young trees in the park. They’re the future shade. We’ve been concerned that they will die. I’m glad to see you’re watering.”

“Yes, happily the City of Cambridge encouraged us to water the trees. We’ve been taking care of a pear tree and a river birch a little further down, in front of our house. They’re doing fine. I’ve just started watering this one, in front of the apartment building. It’s dropped about half of its leaves already.”

He gave me an enthusiastic thumbs up. “Thank you and good for you that you’re watering these mature trees. Even ‘though their roots are deep, you still have to water them and take care of them.”

Nick Miller is President of Clarity Advantage based in Concord, MA. He assists banks and credit unions to generate more and more profitable relationships, faster, with business clients, their owners, and their employees through better sales strategies and execution. Additional articles on Clarity’s web site.