All good things must come to an end. Sometimes we mark them with a celebration such as a graduation ceremony, or a wedding reception (both an ending and a beginning) or an after-funeral lunch.
Other events slip past with less notice.
Three years ago (oh, my, time passes fast these days) I bid farewell to the large oak tree which had stood on the property likely longer than the buildings. I enjoyed the summer shade and year-round antics of the squirrels and birds which it hosted for twenty of those years.
But — all good things must come to an end. So…three or four years into the arborist’s diagnosis of a fatal disease (he gave it five years at most), when the crown browned almost as soon as the leaves were full size, the crew came.
I can imagine my father now — How many nice corner fence posts can we get from one tree?
Do you have a shade tree? Do you take advantage? Have you planted one for the next generation?