Cassie looked at the stump, tears in her eyes. Adam put a comforting arm around her.

“That tree was so pretty,” she moaned. “The flowers in the spring, the shade in the summer.”

“And the millions of leaves to rake in the fall,” he said. “But look at it this way: now you’ll have a new garden to plant!”

She brightened a little. “That’s true,” she said. “Lots of flowers that love lots of sunshine!”

“That’s the spirit,” he said. “And I have something planned for the stump.”

“I thought you might. You had them cut it pretty tall. Care to tell me about it?”

“Nah. I want it to be a surprise!”

The next spring saw Cassie working on her gardens in the backyard. Adam worked on the new garden out front. Cassie saw what he was doing, but was still a bit baffled by his actions. Adam had built a small wall around the stump, about ten feet from it in all directions. He was also sawing and using chisels on the stump until it looked like a chair. Finally, it was done and Adam called Cassie to see it.

“There!” he declared. “It’s done. Do you like it? From this seat you can watch the sun rise or the sun set. You could even watch the moon rise when it gets dark!”

“Oh, Adam! It looks so nice. May I sit?”

“Of course,” he said. “It’s for you!”

She sat and looked over the nearly bare ground he had walled in around the stump. Here and there, some violets had taken root, their little purple flowers poking out bravely in the sunshine.

“Oh, Adam!” she exclaimed, “I have some ideas for this garden. Since you made this seat, could we put in a trellis, an arbor, with climbing roses on it? I’ll plant all sorts of other flowers, but I’d really like an arbor.”