Stiff necks and side stitches

A few nights ago Arthur walked in the door and I ran to the door to welcome him home and ask him to take me on a walk since it was a beautiful fall evening.  Arthur jokes that being married to me is like carrying for a dog-- I am happiest if I get exercised daily.  During this walk we deviated from the normal path again to explore a different area of town-- I love living in a small town that is completely accessible on foot.  On our walks we share about our days, discuss business, thoughts, what we learned, goals and dreams for the future, and random other things.  This particular evening Arthur related a story to me about his day and the way he solved a problem, completely different than I would, that just screamed "engineer". I couldn't stop laughing for several blocks.  I got such a kick out of the scenario that I developed a side stitch from laughing.  I guess sometimes humor does hurt.  A few block later we started discussing the variety of trees we were walking past.  This lead to a crash course in arboriculture identification.  Growing up I became familiar with tree and plant identification and even competed at the state level through 4-H.  I have forgotten quite a bit but was able to identify, teach, and quiz Arthur on a variety of trees from honey locust to golden rain tree.  I must say he is now solid on his maples, oaks, and sycamores.  After walking around looking up at the trees overhead my neck was pretty sore too.  Almost two years ago Arthur and I took another walk viewing all my "favorite" trees around campus.  At the end of the walk we stopped in a grove of trees, he knelt down, and asked me to be his wife.  I said yes, it would be a pleasure. (Especially if he would continue to take long walks to gaze at the beauty of trees with me).  Omnia Vincit Amor.