$5.1 



THE 



APPLE TREE 

 COMMUNITY 



\ 

 BY GEORGE A. SMITH 



\l 



r\ 



One day late in July I walked through 

 my garden to the spot where an old 

 apple tree has been standing for more 

 than half a century. On that gray day 

 the tree was bare of blossoms, its 

 branches twisted and misshapen, its 

 trunk scarred and deformed and full 

 of holes, its gnarled roots showing . . . 



Along came a man with an axe. 



"Let me chop that tree down for you," 

 he said. "You can burn the pieces in 

 your fireplace. And you can plant a 

 new, young, straight tree in its place." 



With these words, a unique book of re- 

 markable photographs and evocative stories 

 begins. George Smith can't allow his aging 

 tree to be cut down. It is a center of life - 

 honey factory, a birds' hotel, a summer 

 :ena, an egg hatchery, a nursery, a 

 shelter, a battleground, a cradle. In it and 

 >n it over and under and around it, life 

 unfolds in wonderful ways. 



jeorge Smith - writer, photographer and 



~ 5 us into this whirlpool of 



e see four seasons of life at close 



nge:bnlliantly revealing, always inspir- 



The white-tailed deer, the fabled turtle 



the bunting family, the robber fly -die-' 



k'e u?fn r Z hS ^ inStfUCdve c ~ 



Yes, come into this enchanted 



Here 



Jacket design by Eugene Milbauer 



>m the collection of the 



m 



PreTinger 

 JLJibrary 



V 



>an Francisco, California 

 2007 







