Sacramento Shade

Having just come through a wonderful, mild summer I'm so thankful to be a Nor Cal Gal.  One of the things I LOVE about Sacramento is all the beautiful, big shade trees.  The climate here is such that although the sun can get H-O-T in the summer, it's usually a dry, pleasant heat as long as you can be in the shade!

We have one of those big shade trees in our back yard.  It's probably about as old as the house (60 yrs) and makes it comfortable for the kids to play outside until early afternoon, even on 100 degree days.

So, we decided to plant a new tree in hopes that it will grow big enough to provide lovely shade by the time the old tree kicks the bucket.

It's a Red Maple.

It looks small, but it's a fast grower...hopefully.