Even though I grew up as a “city kid” in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, I always loved the outdoors. I would play outside all summer, climbing trees, picking dandelions, catching worms and checking out ant nests. I loved to make tents out of lawn furniture and blankets to pretend I was camping. One breezy spring day, I noticed thousands of tan-colored whirligigs spinning down from my neighbor’s tree. I picked them up by the handfuls and threw them into the air to watch them twist and twirl. The neighbor lady saw me and came out from her house. “Do you know what those are?” she asked. I had no idea. “Those are the seeds from this silver maple tree,” she pointed.
“Seeds?” I asked. “You mean like the kind we plant in the garden?”
“Yes, that’s right. Let me know when you want to help me sweep them all up!" she laughed.