I spent some time today taking photos of the tree we've had in our front yard for the last thirteen plus years. We have come to call it Paul's tree because we had it planted on the first year anniversary of Paul's death. I've mentioned it here in the past after a particularly bad trimming job (see December 5, 2010, June 30, 2012, and July 22, 2012). Unfortunately, I won't have to complain about that anymore. Next week our gardeners are going to remove it completely, and we'll replace it with a much smaller and less invasive substitute. I'm also memorialized it in a poem just published in True Words from Real Women: An Anthology of Life Writing by the Women of the Story Circle Network (November 2013).     Paul's Tree   It has to be a climbing tree, I say to replace the one he used to climb as a boy, to remind me of him sitting in the wide Vee of the upper branches smiling and proud of his climbing success. I settle on a small … [Read more...]