© Joan Currie

Everybody would like to be an oak tree, that’s very strong and very pretty.
Katharine Hepburn

Early this morning, when I was inspecting the jumble of leaves and pink peppercorns that the California Pepper tree had deposited on the roof and in the gutters of my new home, I thought of Katharine Hepburn’s statement that she would like to be a great oak tree.

After having lived in New England for fifteen years and spent a good part of every fall raking and bagging thousands of leaves from white and red oak trees, I would not wish to be a tree that was so burdensome – no matter how beautiful. I think Johnny Carson was on the right track when he said he wanted to be a tumbleweed.