To all those who walked a Tree, thank you for your generous gift of time and companionship.

To all those who visited the Trees in the Grove, thank you for your kindness and willingness to indulge.

To all those who conversed with us on a walk, in the Grove, or on a street corner, thank you for sharing your thoughts and your stories.

To all those who waved, honked and snapped a photo, thank you for being aware and engaging.

We encountered hundreds of individuals over six months of daily walks and unbelievable as it may sound, every last one was memorable, charming, and ridiculously positive. 

Thank you Old Town for befriending The Grove.

Thank you for becoming part of the story, for sharing the story, for creating the story and for retelling the story.

Thank you for creating that moment of connectedness when Mine and Yours briefly becomes Ours, that Golden Intersection will always have a blinking walk signal.

 

Tree 0.  Zero the Hero and Stacy 

We can't wait to see photos of Stacy and Georgia with Zero for many Lemon seasons to come !

Tree 1.  King and Dave                                                                                                            

Dave was so excited to bring home King, it was like getting a new bike on Christmas! He was the first adopter to transplant his new friend.

 

Tree 2.  Dmitri and Jon                                                                                                                     

Jon walked Dmitri to the Lemon Lounge and it was commitment at first sight!  What a handsome duo!

Tree 3.  Rocky, Barb, Virl and Katie the Yorky 

Barb and Virl have a fabulous vegetable garden AND they keep bees. Rocky is sure to be pollinated and loaded with Lemons in a snap.

Tree 4.  Rainbow, Kris, Stephen, and Sophie the Cockerspaniel

Sit, Sophie Sit! This lovely trio is now a fabulous quad !

Tree 5.  Sancho and Bill     

Rumor has it that Bill has a lovely Lemon Grove by the pool to which Sancho will be warmly welcomed.

Tree 6.  Christmas  (aka Lemon Drop )  and CJ

Tree 6's harrowing adventure that resulted in a pedi cab rescue left him a little bumped and bruised as well as earned him the nick name Lemon Drop. Cj took  the task of nursing him back to health. Let's hope CJ has a green thumb and the Golden Touch !

Tree 7.  Lady, Grace and Little Lady the Yorky  

What three lovely ladies! Grace is thrilled to have Tree 7, little Lady's name sake, as part of the family. And she's even more excited to only have to walk one of the two !

Tree 8.  Esmeralda (renamed Freckles) and CJ      

Cj, an Eternal Optimist at heart, had a renaming ceremony for Tree 8 and is determined to revive Freckles. Grow Freckles Grow !

Tree 9.  Lenny and Ed

Ed is a bee keeper. Lenny is super excited to help make Honey ! 

 After the last walk the Trees were safetly loaded into a white van and driven to the Homestead. The trees have all been successfully adopted and will be pictured on the blog with their new families.

 

It was the last official  Tree Walk. It wasn't terribly later in the day than our normal afternoon walk but the sun seemed low on the horizon, it was officially Fall. We followed our normal Monday route with a stop off here and there to bid our farewells to the merchants who befriended us during the summer. Upon exiting Tea Time we met Mick. Mick literally just moved from Chicago, a city that everyone seems to love and leave. The conversation was instantaneous and genuine. We slid with ease from talking to walking. The details are not necessary to relate but transition can be difficult and can seem never ending and terribly bleak. It is at that very spot of unending gray that Lemons grow. Thank you for being open to walking a tree with a stranger in an unfamiliar city that is now your new home. We wish you the very best and hope your Lemons are always within your reach. 

 Mick from Chicago

Anthony, the childhood friend with the car, helping Mick get from here to there.

It started as a normal late afternoon walk and turned into an evening dinner stroll. Kathy and Sandy were sitting on the corner of 5th and Scottsdale Road patiently waiting for their appointed dinner hour at the Scottsdale Culinary Institute- Le Cordon Bleu. The two were about to embark on a delectable gastric adventure so they made it an evening and Walked a Tree!

grace n.  A disposition to be generous or helpful; goodwill

The Grove was in the Livery for 6months. Over that period of time Grace visited and walked the trees countless times. On two occassions the Grove needed a tree sitter and Grace lovingly tended to them. She watered them, cleaned their leaves and of course spoke words of encouragement to them. The trees always looked forward to her company. You are amazing Grace! So many thanks.

  Grace and Zero the Hero

Grace and 8 Esmeralda

Happy. Happy. Happy. Kirstin is happy but so gosh darn BUSY.  It took a bit of work to get her to Squeeze in the time to Walk a Tree but Sancho is irresistible. These two were immediate buddies and a perfect match. It was a flawless walk. Kirstin is a wonderful friend of The Grove and a Champion of Lemons. Her unending hard work and continual support is most appreciated, especially when Walking Trees and chasing windmills.

It was hot, high noon middle of May HOT. The tree and I were at the intersection of Indian School and Scottsdale MELTING and waiting for the signal to change. The flashing walk sign finally beckoned us into the crosswalk. It was in between these two white lines that we met Tom, a new transplant from Indiana, and his friend. The two men were on their lunch break and it's safe to say neither had expected to encounter a Walking Tree. Animated conversation about lemons, optimism, and the walking grove ensued. Two months passed before the two men went in search of the Grove.  Once they found it, they continued to visit on a regular basis to the very very last day. Tom is one of the Ten Dedicated Tree Walkers on the night of Lemon Lounge.  Thank you for your many visits, conversations and overall enthusiasm for the lemon trees!

Names have been changed to protect all parties involved. This fabulous servant of the people works diligently enforcing parking rules in Old Town and is rarely thanked for his hard work and service. I would have to wager that not many people are excited to see him by their vehicle. However, we at The Grove are always excited to bump into him. There were days during the long hot summer when Officer X and the walking trees were the only moving creatures in Old Town. Thanks for the camaraderie!

The Livery is a prime location for catching tourists and the Lemons lure them in, hook line and sinker. It's hard to resist a Walking Tree Grove even if you hail from the land of trees to the North, Canada. Louise and David were on holiday in Arizona and found themselves strolling Old Town Scottsdale in between their scheduled side trips to Sedona and the Grand Canyon. They engaged in lively conversation and a fabulous stroll with Sancho and Zero the Hero. It wasn't on their itinerary but walking a tree will most definitely make their photo album!