All winter, I long for nights when I can sit outside by a fire. Tonight is pretty much a perfect night. Sweatshirt weather. 

26 years ago when I planted these trees, I never thought about how the squirrels and chipmunks would love them. Those guys are messy, and get into places where they shouldn’t be. I get to fulfill my childhood dream of catching the little animals, of seeing them up close before relocating them.

I’m kind of amazed that I am still here.  This is by far the longest I’ve ever lived in a house.  30 years so far!

I think about leaving. It’s one option on a long list of possibilities. 

See that tree behind me?  I used to park my car over the top of it. It was only a few inches tall. That was before the fence. Now it’s 35 or 40 feet tall. 

This doesn’t look like the same place. Do I look like the same person?