All Gone . . .

The reason I chose this house to rent (and Pete was sweet enough to trust me!) was the big, full, beautiful tree in the back yard. It was spectacular in its shape and health. In Texas, so much is new development that trees are still in sapling stage.

In fact, I loved the tree so much that a few nights ago I began to tell Thad a story about that tree for his bedtime story. The tree was magic and a little boy named Thaddeus was discovering that the tree whispered to him to come climb to the sky in its branches . . .

However, last night's powerful storm took it away from us.

As you can see, half of it was "left" at the end of the storm. We lost the rest this evening to the tree doctors. Because Texas has been so dry for the last several years, the trees were too dry to withstand the wind. If the tree-half were left, it would either rot or fall on the house.



I was so looking forward to Thad playing under this tree this summer. I wanted him to have a sandbox or a sand/water table under the protection of the tree.

Joyce Kilmer - Trees
(For Mrs. Henry Mills Alden)

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

Thank you, God, for the gift of five months with that tree. It was spectacular.