Margie and Barbara

Barbara is British, married an American and ended up in this country. After the divorce she remained for her children and grandchildren, although I believe she still thinks of England as home. She was in the writing group with Margie and me back in 2008 and 2009, and we occasionally still see her. The sadness in Barbara's eyes hints at the story she had not yet told us when I made the photo.

Barbara's granddaughter and a few good friends were planting trees with a civic organization this past weekend when a gust of wind blew a large branch off a nearby tree, and it struck one of the boys in the head. A medical doctor was standing nearby and tended to the boy, but he died within minutes. Barbara's granddaughter is still in shock. Margie and I had not seen the news story and had no idea this had happened.

Many trees in our area were affected by the horrific heat dome in June (when we had three days of temperatures up to 116F/47C) followed by a drought that lasted three months. The climate catastrophe is already here. Arborists are recommending that property owners have tree specialists check on all their trees.