WHAT AN APPLE TREE TAUGHT ME ABOUT EDITING

“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.”
—Martin Luther

Outside my office window, the apple tree beckons me to take a writing break. It’s a crisp fall day, and red apples dangle from the branches like Christmas ornaments. Around a half-century old, the tree stands alone on a hillside and functions as a crossing guard for all the animals that pass by: turtles, deer, groundhogs, and even otters.

I can’t recall ever seeing a more perfect tree, and I have Pete, an arborist that my boyfriend and I found on the listserv in our small