The peripatetic tree

It smells like Christmas all around the property thanks to the resident woodsman's brush-clearing operation. He spent the afternoon in the pine groves untangling fallen limbs and dragging them down to the wood pile, spreading the scent of pine sap everywhere and reopening clogged paths.

"You've got to go up there and see this tree," he said, so we went up and saw. What's so special about this tree? It looks as if the wind just pushed it sideways and left it leaning against its neighbor.

But that's not its neighbor. In fact, that tree doesn't belong in that copse at all. It's not rooted in the spot but appears to have been lifted up from somewhere or snapped off the top of a larger tree and then deposited, standing, in our woods.

How long will it remain standing? Not long--as long as there's a working chainsaw in the family. We don't know where it came from, but I think we know where it's going.