Someone else's tree

When I was a teenager, my parents took our family on a cross country road trip from our home in Minnesota to the Oregon coast.  One of many memorable stops was a visit to the redwood forests of northern California.  I was so mesmerized by the massive trunks of these trees that I never noticed the canopy, meaning that I would never recognize a redwood tree in any other context.

Some years ago, I noticed a perfectly symmetrical cedar tree in one of our neighbor's backyard.  I was amazed at its large size and perfect shape; it became a landmark to look for on our daily morning walks.  When fall arrived, I was horrified to see that its foliage turned completely brown and dropped off.  I knew my neighbors would be saddened by the loss of their lovely tree.

Much to my surprise, the tree grew a fresh, new canopy in the spring.  Clearly, I was wrong in my identification of "cedar."  Some research revealed that there are some deciduous varieties of cypress so I decided that this tree must be one of those varieties, although it really didn't look like any of the cypress trees pictured in my research.

This winter, my husband had an occasion to meet the homeowners of "my" tree.  Bob told them how much I loved their tree so they graciously shared their story with him. 

"My" tree is a redwood tree!  They purchased it as a sapling on a trip to California as an experiment.  They were definitely successful.  Their redwood is quite happy growing in its Alabama backyard.  If you know to look for it on the skyline, it is already the tallest tree in the neighborhood and in redwood years, it is just a "baby."  One day, it will tower over the neighborhood!  It makes me smile to think we have a little bit of exotic California in our central Alabama neighborhood.