What stories do your trees hold?

Once the weather is warm enough, we often sit on the deck below the tree branches. It is the perfect spot in our backyard! We have a few hours of sunshine in the mornings and then we are protected from the rays.

What do we do? Like most people we eat meals and entertain there but we also play card or dice games, or simply sit around and chat. It's been a favorite spot for my daughter's friends when they were just in the mood to chill, drink a few beers, and strum their guitars.

I'm sure these trees have heard many stories, from my family and from prior families that have lived here. It's a good thing that they can't talk!

Sad and happy stories escape people's mouths and fall upon the trees' ears. Like soldiers, protecting us from uninvited listeners, they stand on guard untouched by our joy or pain.

Or are they? Perhaps the trees do weep with us and laugh with us and we simply can't discern it?

I like to think of my trees as happy trees and every year I decorate them with Mardi Gras beads. The array of colours and their brilliancy adds a festive and playful atmosphere to our space.

It makes it feel happy even when times are not so good in the hopes that happiness can come from outside even though we know it must come from within. It's a reminder of the sparkle of life that is always there ... even in dark moments.