Nature’s Heirloom
by William Crisp
You can smell autumn now in the morning. That wonderful smell is from the turning of the foliage on the trees. Trees are such wonderful creatures that even their decay smells good to humans. I have been accused of loving trees too much and at times my wife has become a little jealous of my time with woody species.
I spend autumn searching them out, picking their fruits, using them to find hunting spots and to hunt from. I also claim some of the fallen and dead ones to split for fire. Winter is spent pruning them. During spring I fertilize and mulch certain trees then fret and worry as I monitor the flowers, hoping a killing frost doesn’t come late. During summer I fence and fret over them as well as harvest some of my other favorite fruits such as cherries.