My house is in a state park: thousands of acres around in all directions, but I don’t have to pay the taxes on more than just my few. To the south, up a steep hill behind the house, the park begins at the edge of the upper field seen in this image. That big fiery maple on the left is on my eastern property line, where a large stand of white birches that will reveal themselves in another couple of weeks reside. The copper beech partway up the field (the dark tree roughly in the center) is something I planted, on a perfect axis from the chair I sit in at my table each day to eat, work, visit with guests. Funny to see the former tiny thing shaping up to be a real tree…we are both getting old.
