trees, trees, trees! continued

On Saturday we headed out to our "new place" for the inspection. Halfway there, our realtor called to say the inspector was going to be a little late so we decided to stop by the lake to wait. It was a beautiful day and the boys were so excited to see the place they'd be living in for the next few years. They played by the lake while my husband struck up a conversation with an older man and his son who were there. After discussing Jeeps, fishing, children and a few other topics, the man asked why we were hanging out there. My husband told him we were waiting to get a house inspected and the man said, "Oh, I know who you are!" Turns out he was the seller of the house we are buying. Small world. We figured we weren't supposed to be consorting since we were still in "negotiations" so we went our separate ways and headed to the house. It was nice to meet the people we were working with, though. They seemed very nice and reasonable.



Once we got to the house the boys did a whirlwind tour and made a beeline to the backyard. I could hear Clayton giggling giddily as he headed out into the open space.



I started to think that letting a seven, five and three year-old roam free on thirty-five unfamiliar acres might not be such a good idea so I took them for a walk to explore together. We came over a hill and found a gaggle of little boys dragging branches and making a pile. They seemed surprised to see a woman in what was clearly little boy domain but they were very gracious and offered to show us some of the forts they had made. After following a small trail that was probably made by animals, we came to something out of the Blair Witch Project. They had stacked branches upon branches against the trunk of a huge pine tree. Our escort scurried up the pile and into the tree with the agility of a cat. Cole looked worried and said, "He's a better climber that me." I reassured him that in no time he would be as fast. He'd just never had the chance to climb a real tree in our old neighborhood!



Before long, he was also in the tree and it took some serious threats to get him down. As we headed back to the house I could see and hear a couple more groups of small boys in different corners of the open space. It was a wonderland for children, ripe with possibility for adventures and projects.



But the boy's domain isn't the only part of our new home with fabulous trees. One of my favorite things about the house is the huge Ponderosa right outside the kitchen window. It seems to be standing guard, protecting the house.





Things are moving along in the process and if all goes well, we'll be in our new place in a month. It really seems like a dream come true.

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.

-- Joyce Kilmer