Before Thanksgiving we took a trip to the property. We had hoped to be able to do some work toward installing electrical service, but that wasn’t to be. Of course, Michael couldn’t wrap his brain around spending a long weekend there without anything more to do than install an address post, so he hatched another plan… Trees.

Check out that happy man…

Ever the perfectionist, Michael researched oak tree varieties until he found one likely to do well in our little valley.  The interestingly named “valley oak” was the one he settled upon. He found a local nursery that sold them and came home with four oak trees; one for each of us.

Once on the property, we spent the morning in the rain tramping around to determine the proper placement of our future oak trees.

Michael and I decided to plant our trees near one another on the eastern slope of the swale.

Some day these trees may grow so large that their canopies may entwine and serve as an enduring symbol of our love for each other. (How’s that for cheesey romantic…?)

Magnus, who remains a man of few words, was adamant about his tree choice. He claimed this one before anyone else did:

And here’s Hunter with her Lockwood BFF, Levi:

These two had two tremendous days tramping all over eighty acres of prime imagination space. We let Hunter wander around because Levi’s mom didn’t seem to think it was a big deal and it turns out Levi’s mom let her son wander around because we didn’t seem to think it was a big deal. Yeesh.

We also put up an address post so that when the power company comes to hook up our electricity they’ll be able to find us.

Isn’t it pretty?

I’ve never been much of a visionary. I tend to see things only as they are, not for what they could become. But when Michael wanders around this vacant, weed-covered property, waving his arms, (“[This] will go here, [that] over there…”) I see it. I see it the way he sees it. The rustic barn. The tree-lined drive. The potting shed.

I see it. And I want to be there now.