HUMMINGBIRD TREE

The tree service was going to be coming soon, so my husband Steven and I were standing in the back yard trying to decide which trees needed to be trimmed and which ones needed to be removed.

“There’s some dead branches in that one.” I said as I pointed up into the huge oak tree.

“Yup.” Steven marked it down on his pad.

He pointed his pencil to a tall but straggly pine. “If that falls over in a wind storm it could hit the house.”

I nodded in agreement.

Steven pointed to another tree on the side of our property. “What about that one?”

I looked surprised. “You mean the hummingbird tree?”

Steven looked over at me, the look on his face not showing much humor. “You know it’s dead, right?”

“Yes, but…” I looked over at the leafless tree and could still remember the first fall when I saw the scarlet maple, it had the most brilliant red leafs I’d ever seen. “The hummingbirds still use it. So do the red capped woodpeckers. They love it!”

Steven shook his head. “That’s because they love getting the bugs that live in dead trees.”

“See! It’s still needed!”

Just then our son Alex came out the back door. “What are you guys doing?”

“Your Mom wants to keep the dead tree.” Steven called.

“The hummingbird tree?”

“See!” I looked over at Alex. “Remember this morning when we were out on the deck and the crows…”

Alex interrupted me. “Oh man! I’ve never seen anything like it.” He looked over at Steven. “We were sitting out here and two crows came in and landed on the tree and began snapping twigs off it.”

“You could actually hear the twigs snapping!” I added.

“Then they flew off together with the twigs in their beaks.”

“They were pretty big twigs.” I looked over at Steven. “It was wild.”

“Okay, but we’re still taking about a dead tree in our yard.” Steven reminded us.

I knew he was right but I still felt some affection for the poor thing. “I guess.” I sighed.

Just as I looked over at the tree two mourning doves landed on a top branch and began cooing and moving their heads together. “Oh my gosh, would you look at that!” I pointed to the doves. “I’ve never seen the courtship dance before.”

We all stopped and watched as they continued their dance.

“There’s still so much life being lived on it.” I looked over at Steven.

“I promise I’ll get you a new tree.” he said. “One that will have leafs on it.”

“Oh, can it be another scarlet maple?” I asked.

“Sure.” he tapped his pencil against his pad. “So I can add it?”

I took one more look at my hummingbird tree. “I’ll miss you my friend.”

I looked back at Steven and nodded yes.

“Good decision.” he began to write on his pad.

I smiled as I rubbed my hands together. “I have to admit I’m already looking forward to seeing the new tree in the fall.”

Alex looked over at Steven. “Looks like she got over that one pretty quickly.”