Intervention before disaster

When we built the second chicken coop beside the revamped resort shower house that was our first, smaller home for poultry, nearby stood an adorable little white pine sapling. It wasn’t even as tall as beanpole-teenaged me, more like a cute little piney bush than a tree. We built the chicken run fence around it, not having the heart to take it out.

While other trees in the barnyard have faded or broken in storms over the years, giving us many interesting and sometimes perilous adventures to clean up after them or have them proactively removed, the little white pine just innocently grew and grew in the chicken yard, minding its own business. Over the years, it has grown quite large indeed, towering over the red coops, offering afternoon shade.