Most of the streets are named after trees in our daughter Molly’s new town.
I love that.
Molly knows trees like doctors know their patients. Take a walk with Molly and she’ll introduce you to Maple, Ash, Elm and Mulberry.
She’ll tell you all about their habits, history and, ahem, procreation proclivities.
So it seems just about perfect that she lives on a street named after a tree.
I also think it’s hard to grow roots when you’re on the early end of a career in academia. You have to go where the job takes you. Living in a place that honors its trees can help.
I was quite tickled to visit Molly this weekend at her new place on Boxelder Street.
And, though it’s not without its challenges (one of which being that it’s a seven-hour drive away from me) I love her new home.
She’s a handy little thing and I can’t say she needed her mother to help her get settled in her new place.
She rented herself a U-Haul, packed it up, drove it to her new place, unpacked it and drove it back to the return lot.
I showed up after all of this, with a drill I had no idea how to operate, and some tasty treats.
We had a great weekend!
We walked all over town, hiked through a nearby state park, sampled a few local establishments, and enjoyed a “Songs of Summer” festival.
We stopped at an agua fresca stand run by two little enterprising girls and purchased a couple delicious beverages.
Then we enjoyed them on the balcony of Molly’s new place. It juts out into a hackberry tree, and we felt a little like the Swiss Family Robinson surveying their new neighborhood.
Molly begins a new semester as an English professor today, and it’s also her birthday.
Please join us in wishing her well as she branches out into a new community.
Happy Birthday to Molly B.
May your roots grow deep, your branches stretch wide and your appreciation for the nuttiness of life (and your mother) sustain you.
