Joyce and Me

I read somewhere that the two best times to plant a tree are twenty years ago and right now.  The tree project that began last year in the goat pen had one failure.  Out of the five trees planted, the most critical tree, the one that started the whole thing, the one I wanted to provide shade for the barn, that tree died.  I had such hopes.  Fortunately, the nursery down below Diamond Springs had a few more Pakistan mulberry trees.  Yesterday I took aluminum cans to the recycling center and got enough money to fund another tree, a really healthy-looking specimen.  I need to get it in the ground before milking or the girls will strip the leaves while I'm digging the hole.  Fingers crossed.

It's bothered me that I did not mention a couple more inspirational mice yesterday, the county mouse/city mouse from Aesop's Fables and Beatrix Potter's Mrs. Tittlemouse.  Credit should be given where deserved.

I'll go along with Joyce Kilmer, who wrote, "I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree."  Surrounded by oaks, pines, cedars, and many others, I still want more.  I particularly want one more mulberry tree to grow and thrive and provide shade and fruit for me, the goats, and the birds.  And, okay, the ground squirrels.  Sort of.