FATHERS KNOW BEST

I think I missed HUG A TREE WEEK so this is my contribution.

This is me hugging the Black Walnut 45 years after I shot the top off
 when it was a mere sprout about a foot high.
My father couldn't scold me because he was the one who told me to shoot it.
Me being not that much older than the tree they didn't think I would hit it.
So it grew two heads.

This is me hugging the other Black Walnut that graced our front lawn
about 35 years after it had all its bark stripped off.
One spring my father tied the dog to this tree while we went visiting.
When we got home that night
 the rope had twisted off all the bark and it was hanging in shreds.
My father never scolded the dog. He gathered the bark like a jigsaw puzzle
 and tied it around with rags, waxed and painted to keep out the air.
A small seam can still be detected.

Both these trees are still growing - without the house and barn - in MacGregor Point Provincial Park - or whatever designation it has now. Lots of little Black Walnut trees have sprouted and grown since these photos.