Secrets Inside The Tree Painting

When I was in fourth grade I read a book about two children who sent notes to each other by hiding them in a hole in a big tree in their neighborhood. I loved the mystery and adventure of sending secret messages by way of a big old tree! My neighborhood was very new and didn’t have a big old tree. In fact, there weren’t any trees at all. So I improvised. I left my best friend notes stuck in the sewer grating, or under a rock in a vacant lot where eventually they built a library. Later, as a teacher, I used a huge cottonwood tree on the school grounds to write notes to my students, engaging them in various “mysterious” adventures! And the idea of secrets inside a tree still intrigues me!