I think that I should never see

. . . unless it is a problem tree!

We have two problem trees in our neighborhood. One is a lovely, huge cottonwood in one of our neighbor's yards. I love it . . . except this time of year. The cotton on it overwhelms us. Last night, the lawn was white with cotton . . . so that when I mowed, it was drifting around me, grabbing onto my clothes, landing in my hair, and covering my face. It has turned our gorgeous dark-green cypress into a lime-green "cotton filter." I know it will soon be over, and then we will enjoy the tree . . . but until then!

The other problem tree is a mulberry - or two. Again, mulberries are not bad until they start to produce mulberries. Now if I were a pie-maker like my neighbor, Susan, I might like the mulberry tree. But as it is, it too grows in the neighbor's yard, causing our fence to couple and leaving its berries all over our yard. Then we find new little mulberry trees that have been planted by birds or squirrels . . .

I have to remind myself that without the cotton there would be no seeds for more cottonwoods; without the berries, we wouldn't have mulberry pie and the birds wouldn't have food. So I guess the little inconvenience is worth the hassle . . . but when I was mowing last night, it would have been hard for me to agree!