The Peeing Tree

Before it was cut down a few days ago, there stood a tree in my backyard. It did not consist of much more than a very short trunk and two barren branches. The tree was in the shape of a "Y". This was the tree our dog, Bacon, used to be tethered to. My son, Jacob, loved this tree. He loved to stand with a foot on each branch and feel like "King" of the yard.



I was out sitting on my side porch one day watching my children play. Sitting, reminiscing about my childhood and how Missy and I used to play in and around the trees and shrubs. I don't know what made me look toward that tree at that exact moment, but nevertheless, I did. I could not quite comprehend what I was seeing for a moment. All I could see was the back of Jacob standing in the tree. It looked like he was spraying some kind of liquid. THEN, it dawned on me just what my child was doing....PEEING. Peeing from up in the tree. He almost got the dog, too. I called Jake's name and asked him what he thought he was doing. His response was a giggle and a devilish grin. I said, "Jacob, are you peeing?". He shouted, "No, I'm FERTILIZING!".

In the weeks that followed, Jacob made a point to let me know every time he was peeing from within the confines of the tree. When they cut the tree down the other day, which happened to be the same day Maddie got strep, he was so completely bummed. He no longer had his "peeing tree". There are plenty of other trees in our yard but he says no other tree is just right for the job.