I went out to the playground this week to check out the secret fort. I wanted to leave a fun little note for whoever was escaping there. To my surprise, the entire fort, every brick and board and rope was GONE! I was astonished. There was no sign that anyone had ever been there. Puzzled, I started to look around for all the fort-making scraps. Not far away I found the new fort location, and a cozy room built under the trees. How delightful, I thought, until I realized just how the fort had been constructed. I could see why I didn’t notice the new fort at first glance. Branches had been twisted and torn off of several trees to build a wall of green, hiding the new fort. I felt sick. There were about a dozen beautiful branches, woven together, stripped from the surrounding trees. Some were 8-10 feet long. My heart hurt at the destruction of it all. As I was still surveying the damage, a few neighborhood boys came. They could see how sad I was. I said, “Something terrible has happened here. Look how these beautiful trees have been broken.” They were quick to report that “some girls” must have done it. I think they got the message. I hope so. I went in and made a sign to put on the playground gate, and I pulled that gate closed. The trees need a little rest for a few days. Maybe we’ll re-open the park again next week, after my sad heart has healed a bit.