Meeting the neighbors

One of the nice things about walking the dog is talking to people on our route, which is often difficult if they are walking a dog, too. (Raven is friendly, but noisy around other animals. Today, we were almost home, when I stopped to admire the handiwork in our neighbor's yard--around the corner from our house on the busy street. They had recently had a large tree taken down in front of their yard, as well as built a new 2 car garage with a screen porch attached. I had met these neighbors before, many years ago, so it was nice to renew our acquaintance.

They lost their silver maple due, not to disease, but to it's instability and the roots were growing up into the lawn. It was sad to see it go, because it was such a nice large shade tree for them, but they have resodded their entire front yard and planted three new trees--an ash, a flowering crabapple tree, and a pear tree (which may bear a couple of fruit--but they are not counting on a bumper crop!) I got to see their lovely garden in the back yard, and Raven was very well behaved as we toured their lot.

Also on our walks, we've (or I've) been noticing the number of elm trees marked for coming down. This is sad, too, because these enormous trees (with Dutch Elm Disease) provide wonderful shade and grow in such a way that they form a canopy along a street, when the trees are planted on both sides. Twenty or 30 years ago, you could drive down many nearby streets in the summer, and it was as if you were driving through a tunnel, the elms provided so much beauty and shade.

But, a tree is just a tree, and cut down it can provide many wonderful uses. And other trees will be planted to take their place--not elms, but probably fast growing Linden trees known for their beautiful symetrical shape.

Meanwhile, Raven and I should try to get out earlier before the sun gets so high in the sky and the vanishing elms can't provide the shade we crave on these warm summer mornings!

Till next time,


Suzi