Two workers went up to the mountain and cut a tree down. When the tree was cut, they saw growth rings on the wood. Then the younger worker said, “Look! These five rings are close to each other. It seems there was a drought for five years.”
The young worker knew that the rings get close to each other when there is a drought because the tree grows slowly. Then the old worker who was listening to him silently said to him,
“You’re right, but there is something more important. When there is a drought, trees send their roots down deeper to seek water and nutrients from the soil. Then their roots become stronger, and after the drought, the trees grow faster. So the time of drought was actually the most important time for this tree.”