But then there was also the craggy old tree, shored up by a meandering stone wall that carved out a natural sitting area in the yard.
There were challenges: extracting the raft from overhanging branches using a folding saw, trying to stop a two-tonne raft by wrapping a rope around a tree on shore and holding tight.
On the island of Sardinia the destruction of the carob forests and on the Apulian Plain the decay of olive trees and shore vegetation have produced steppes of tough plants such as the various sorts of feather grass.
Spread out along the tree-lined shore of the Charles River, the city is a dense collection of grand Federal and Greek Revival mansions and modest century-old bungalows, modern office towers and brick dormitories.
There is also Nancy Popenoe's nighttime scene of our most famous local waterway in golden and purple hues with classic widescreen dimensions in "L.A. River," while Mian Situ paints safely from the tree-lined shore as waves crash violently nearby in "Pacific Breeze".
It is here, on the tree-lined shores, that we find a lichen, the Sticta coronata.
Even in exotic locations like Egypt, India, Syria, Greece and Mexico, he focused on village life, stretches of dunes, desert rocks, tree-lined shores and distant mountains bathed in fog.
Later, we took a stroll with our own (sandy-haired) children along Olavinkatu, the pretty main street, which is lined with painted wooden buildings and pricey shops, and occasionally opens out on to impressive views of tree-clad shores.
Now people park there to gaze out over moored sailboats, the breakwater and tree-lined shores of North Haven and, in the distance, the Mashomack Preserve, a short ferry ride away on Shelter Island.
In contrast to the taste of the time, he regarded his sketches as finished works, focusing, even in exotic locations like Egypt, India, Syria, Greece and Mexico, on village life, stretches of dunes, desert rocks, tree-lined shores and distant mountains bathed in fog.
