After spending the weekend digging, planting and watering two gardens and two new trees, I'm starting to question my sanity.

Not because my back is considering a major revolt, or because I have entirely run out of ways to make my house muddier, but because I didn't do this sooner. This is the third summer I have lived in this house, and I am just getting my yard, and act, together.

With family in both BC and Ontario I am well aware of the importance of trees to many people. For my grandfather, it was a crime worse than interrupting a baseball game to injure a tree on his property. When neighbours cut theirs down to make the 'view' better, he would rant about it for years. In his opinion, not being able to see the lake through the forest was beauty.

I don't think I disagree, as his property is practically a forest in itself, with well kept trails and shrubs making it the ideal spot for toads, frogs, turtles and other things that are fun to chase, and occasionally catch briefly.

For those in BC it was a matter of identity. With forestry being such a huge industry trees weren't just beauty, they were a source of employment. They were also a source of tourism, with those on Vancouver Island constantly bragging about the giants in Cathedral Grove.

So, as an Albertan, I am not certain which category I fit into. Yes, cutting down a tree is actually a crime in many areas, but because there are so few. And forestry exists in Alberta, but we boast many other industries that seem to be more popular for employment.

I think it's somewhere closer to a sentimental attachment.

My trees are very small right now. They have twigs, not branches, and they aren't really impressing anyone with their grandeur, but they will one day. That's what I want to see, and even if I sell the house I plan to sneak peeks at them every once in a while. Because, like anything that I put work into, I have a feeling of pride about my trees. They will grow with my help, and water, and that's a good feeling.

Kirsten Mundy, Multimedia Editor