Green Again
The big tree. That is all we call it. I do not even know what kind of tree it is and a good part of me does not want to know. It is not merely a type of tree, it is our tree.

There were several trees in our neighborhood but the big tree was one of the two that stood outside the front of our house. They leaned away from each other ever so slightly and they were the biggest trees left standing on the block. The roots of the big tree twist and form the most perfect places for you to sit. In the summer this is a good thing since it is frequently cooler under the big tree than it is inside our house.

The big tree is base. For all games: Hide and Seek, Alligator and of course Ghosts in the Graveyard. However in games of Tag and Freeze Tag you are not permitted to linger there for very long. I want to say you had ten seconds but I cannot remember exactly.

It's mate, the small tree which was not all that small, was cut down several years ago. The big tree lost a rather large limb at some point and its brittle gray base sits ominously high above the street. My parents keep waiting for the big tree to finally die before they have it cut down but every spring it still brings forth new leaves. Its bunches of green seeds hang like grapes then slowly drop onto the sidewalk. It made me smile today when I saw them.

The big tree winds its way under the pavement and breaks up our driveway. Our small front lawn is more roots than proper turf. It will probably damage the foundation if it hasn't already. Every Nor'easter, every weakening hurricane and tropical storm bring the threat of massive limbs knocking out power lines, damaging cars or breaking windows. This would make me sad or angry if it did not seem like the tree was an essential part of the house itself. It is certainly part of the home I grew up in.

I am frequently torn between two impulses: to see more of the world or to observe more about one place. If I must remain in one place, settle there for the remainder of my adulthood I hope I come to know that place I well as I know this one. I think I could be content once I find such a place, a place I would know as well as the wild curving roots of our big tree.