They truly wanted to live.

Winter sneaked up on me. Without any warning. Overnight. With an incredibly heavy wet snow. Stuck to the tree branches. Put extra weight on the limbs. Many of 'em snapped. Busted big, big limbs. Especially on my ginella maple trees. I've lost the best parts of two trees. Sad. But what remains will come back. Maybe it'll take a season or two or three. Because the roots are well-established. I've had original planted trees wither and die. Only to have new sprouts emerge. And now they've become beautiful mature aspen trees. I just let so many trees be. Trees that came up on their own. Oaks and maples and sunburst locust and mountain ash and willows. They're the best. Because they truly wanted to live. They found a way. --Jim Broede