The other day I posted this picture and asked you to tell me the story of how the shoe got up in the tree. I'm not very good at picking winners, so I decided that everyone (all five of you) will get some sort of prize.
Janda and Pace are the "grand prize winners." Pace, who just turned 5, thinks that Superman flew up and got his shoe hung in the tree then had to leave fast to save someone so he left it there.
Pace will receive a bottle of bubbles and
Janda will get a bottle cap necklace and 1 dozen eggs from our "farm."
My sister asked a few of her students what they thought:
Tatiana (4
th Grader): a crow got it and took it for a nest.
Buck (4
th Grader): maybe a squirrel took it and placed it there to keep his nuts in.
My sister's idea: the shoe is actually just part of the tree branch and it just looks like shoe. Just a trick from Mother Nature.
I'll be contacting my sister to see what an appropriate treat for her students is--we wouldn't want anyone at school to get into trouble.
Granny Sue had the most educational response. "This is what I have heard from a reputable source (policeman): it can be a signal that it's a place to get drugs--like a sales corner." She also suggested some more "happy" ideas. I'll be sending her a bottle cap necklace as well.
I did google "shoe in tree" and found out that some "shoe trees" have sprung up all over the country and in different parts of the world as forms of art.
Sadly, the drug/gang related activity was also mentioned. Some cities are having trouble with shoes in power lines signalling places to buy drugs. Although this is something we'd all rather not know about, I think it is important for us to be aware of such things.
Thank you all for participating. It was fun.
I also posted this picture and asked you to caption it. My sister and her students were the only ones to do so, so they are the winners. I'm arranging that prize with my sister. Here are their captions: 
