Tree fall

It was no surprise to wake up Thursday morning and find a dead limb from a dying tree had smashed on the road in front of the Cookie House. What was surprising was to learn that my parents' back-yard shade tree blew over during the night. We gathered under that tree to celebrate Libby's graduation two months ago. Over the years we ate dinner on the picnic table, played on the swing set Dad built one year on Joel's birthday, and designed cars and baked treats in the sandbox, all under that tree. With the old red barn gone and now the tree missing, my parents' backyard looks different than I remember as a kid.