I was out in the driveway with my camera and first I took a picture of the lilac bush over the fence.

And then as I was walking to the street, I turned and snapped the northwestern corner of the house through a flowering tree.

Turning back toward the street, I looked up at the old maple and got another picture.

Now, at this point I turn and look down the sidewalk to see if Summer is coming. Behind me I hear a thwack and when I look, I discover a large limb has fallen out of the tree and landed about six feet from me.

Gee, I remember they said the number one cause of death in the woods of the Midwestern frontier was falling tree branches . . . but this is 2008, Mr. Maple Tree, and I am almost taking this personally.

I’m going to go tell them in at the Peanut Butter Cafe & Roadhouse. Why that limb was as big around as the hulk’s arm. I figure in a couple of years the size of the limb in the telling of this story will be “about half a redwood”.