When i was 4 years old i had gotten my first pair of flip flops. Summer was pretty much all about going down to the 5 and 10 and picking them out-at least this is where it all started for me-that summer feeling.A lot of thought went into deciding which pair you were going to take home,though back then there were just a few colors to chose from....but something about the ritual,the smell of summer defined by heaps of rubber in a giant bin-this marked the beginning of excitement and wonder-and,endless possibility!

Anyway, on this fourth summer,we were walking through the back yard after a torrential rain fall, I in my new flip flops that i refused to take off,no matter what the circumstance-even around the horses i would learn the hard way after having my toes almost crushed on several occasions.The rain had left the yard a mini disaster area,and I'm not quite sure why we were out there at that time-maybe my mother was checking on the vegetable garden-all i know is that at some point my legs were being sucked down a good 12 inches into what for me seemed like quicksand,swallowing up almost a third of my body. When my Mother pulled me out, one flip flop was gone! It was quickly decided that it was irretrievable. I was distraught.She said that now i could look forward to a tree that would grow from this flip flop-a flip flop tree!!This was a good thing to believe in,and i, with all my heart knew it was going to happen. j.S.