Oliver: Life’s challenges, like silver maple trees in fall, can be unpredictable

The shift from autumn to winter always seems to be a moving target around here. Then again, that could be said about every change of season in our region.

The fall-to-winter shift is particularly stressful here at the Oliver homestead because we have three large trees on our lot. And when I say large, I mean very old and very big.

The burr oak in the front yard without fail jumps the gun when it comes to dropping its leaves. We have several oaks lining our street, so they all dump their leaves at the same time. This means my poor neighbor across the street sees all the leaves collect in his yard. However, it’s over in about three weeks.

The even bigger problem, both in size and in scope, is that we have two gargantuan silver maple trees in the backyard. They never seem to get the memo a