Trees

There used to be a large, dead and dying tree in my front yard where we currently have growing decorative grass. A man used to come every once in a while to take mushrooms that had sprouted themselves on the stump. We don't know if he sold or ate them or actually knew what he was talking about, but my mom would occasionally check the news for "mycology related deaths." My neighbors had another large, dead tree in their side yard in between our driveways. One day that was scheduled to be uneventful, I woke up to discover firemen clustered around the trunk and attempting to coax a wayward iguana from its perch at the top. Sometime after they got it down, our family hosted it for a week, but it was really boring. We sent it on its way to Farmer Willy, and I lost track of it from there. The neighbors had another large pecan tree, where they currently have planted a cat nip tree. Once, Jack and I nabbed every single fallen nut and tried to eat them. Not knowing if we had to roast them or other preparations, we gave up and threw them at each other. There are a total of four trees my neighbors no longer have. Along with the ones already mentioned, two that threatened to fall on their house. It makes the sky over their yard look empty. Before the neighborhood in back of the firehouse was constructed, there used to be a crab apple tree in the field neighboring my yard. Deer would often frequent it, as would my brother and I to collect ammo for when the "invaders" who never came finally arrived. One very early morning, maybe getting ready for school or cartoons, my dad hushed me awake to look out of our kitchen window to see a horse nibbling around the tree. That may also have been Farmer Willy's, but I don't remember it very well.