I was a very strong, wiry, scrawny child, who had two modes: utter stillness, while absorbed in my own imagination or someone else's (i.e. reading a book), and absolute manic frenetic energy. In the second mode, I climbed everything: play equipment, fences, high stone walls, onto the roof of the various houses in which my family lived, and every tree in sight. I was absolutely without fear, and basically if you left me alone, the next second I would be out of sight, high above an adult's eyeline. A place like Canberra — sprawling, suburban, and leafy — was the perfect place in which to grow up, given my preferred childhood activities!

Your garden and tree-planting activities sound lovely, as does the cedar tree.

It feels like a losing battle, but we must keep planting!

Absolutely!