A Pine Tree

This summer, Desiree and I have had our skirmishes with voles, chipmunks, and a single packrat trying to make dinner of our flowers and raspberries. With concerted efforts, we chased away the packrat and then captured and released at a distance the swarms of voles and chipmunks. Our various plants are no longer under attack, but I find myself regularly reflecting on a conversation I had with another tradesman some years ago. We were talking about the struggles of family life when he told me this:

"My family," he said, shaking his head contemplatively. "It's always been a struggle for us. Last year, for the first time since we'd all grown up, we gathered under one roof at my sister's place. She didn't have any trees around the house, so we pitched in, bought a nice pine tree, and worked together to plant it. The next day, the neighbor's goat came over and ate it."

—Mitchell Hegman