I tossed my car keys onto the kitchen counter and announced, “While I was in town today, I bought a new tree for us to plant in the yard.”
My husband Arnie was leaning against the sink eating a summer sausage and cheese sandwich. He asked, surprised, “Why would you do that? We have more than enough trees in and around our yard.”
My husband was right, there were a lot of trees around our house. To the west, we had seven trees along the road. To the north ran an entire row of pine trees. On the east side of the property stood a small forest of white pine trees which had been planted by Arnie and my brother in 1981. On the south side ran the Little Eau Pleine River. Its banks are lined with oak trees, box elder and sumac. Most of the trees around our house are pine, except for a flowering crabapple, a white birch, and a mountain ash which were planted close to the house a long time ago.
Standing next to Arnie, I looked out the kitchen window and explained, “Ever since you made a second driveway to our yard, the small field south of the house has been turned into a lawn. It looks empty. I want the new maple tree planted there, right in the center.”
Life Lines 