For the last two years my son and I have watched a little tree that sprouted in our garden, wondering what it was. We know now. It’s a peach tree. A pit from the days of the marauding ground squirrels in the days before cats found it’s way into the garden and sprouted. We’re going to pinch the tips and do all we can to make it look nice, because we’re pretty sure it won’t beat fruit which has something to do with genetics and how fruit trees are grown these days, the details of which escape my knowledge. Of course, the little tree may surprise us. We’ll see.

Meanwhile all the other little trees in the garden are doing well. The persimmon, the Mexican Plum, the Sandpaper tree, the Mexican Red Bud, the Golden Lead Ball, the Buckthorn, and the mesquite. Love the mesquite. The one in the yard was a volunteer, as was the one along the fence line. We’re a multicultural tree family, which we believe is good for the big oaks because everyone is sharing nutrients and doing things for the soil that keep it healthy so that everyone is happy.

My contribution this year is a trellis for the Morning Glory. I dug a hole for the first pole yesterday and I may dig another today, or I may not. It depends. The nice thing about summer is the almost eternal daylight, which means I can go to Luckenbach in the afternoon for music and still have time in the late afternoon to dig a hole. Talk about blessed. And the digging is easy because the dirt is soft and I’m only going down about 18 inches. And there’s really no rush. The morning glory has sprouted but while it’s fast growing I think even an old man like me can get up a trellis before it’s too late.

John W. Wilson is the author of The Long Goodbye: A Caregiver’s Tale