Our family lived in a small town in southwest Alabama. The midsize house sat in the middle of a three-acre lot with about forty large pine trees. My job as early as I could remember was to pick up all the pine cones that fell because my dad didn't want them all cut up when he mowed the lawn. Eventually, I left home and got married. After my parents died, I inherited the old home and decided to keep it. But the pine cones continued...