It's a New World

It's a new world...one without the tall pine tree that shaded our patio from the seasonal suns....and I miss it. Friday, a Polynesian crew of men stopped by our yard to tell us they would weed all our gardens and take down the dead tree in our backyard this weekend. I hadn't even noticed the tree was dead. That's a scary thing even given all the busyness that's been going on around our house. We've been sick with the stomach flu, we've had guests from out-of-town, we've moved furniture and tons of "stuff" into a new cabin, and we've had a family wedding. I've spent hours gardening, pulling out the grass that invades every year, and I still hadn't noticed the dead tree.

Jim and I worked in the pond yesterday morning before we went to Jane's birthday party at the zoo. I didn't pay attention to the tree then either. But when we came home later in the day, the tree was gone. This morning while we sat outside, I missed the feather shade it gave to the patio. Instead of sitting in a pleasantly private place, I was sitting in the glaring sun--the way the patio used to be when my kids were little. I guess we could count the tree rings and look for the tree's history. About 15 years ago our roof caved in and the tree and all the roses in the garden were broken as the snow and debris from the broken roof was pushed off the house. The tree did an amazing thing...one of the branches that stretched outward moved into the position of growing up...it became the new trunk and the other branches supported it. I've always been thrilled to think of such an adaptation, about the strength of the tree to overcome adversity. But then, this very tall, strong tree died and I didn't notice its going. There's a lesson there somewhere.