Stephen F. Austin State University

If you are occasionally tempted to think the laws of nature don't apply to you, stop.

They do.

That's a lesson I seem to always learn the hard way.

Because I thumbed my nose at Mother Nature about four years ago, I spent last Sunday afternoon digging up a Japanese maple from my front yard and transplanting it into a large pot.

Yes, I knew in our climate most Japanese maples benefit from afternoon shade. And, yes, I knew that red-leafed varieties like my Fireglow are even more susceptible to leaf scorch than green-leafed varieties.

But, darn it, I wanted it in the front yard where it would be a focal point for people coming to my house and where it could be seen from inside our sun room. So I convinced myself that even though my chosen spot was on the west side of the yard, there would be enough protection from nearby pecan trees and an elm.

There wasn't.

By midsummer each year, its poor leaves were dry and crispy around the edges and it had barely grown since being planted.

That should have been enough to persuade me to get the shovel out, but it took the loss of a large tree that offered the maple some shade to get me moving.

First, I asked Japanese maple expert Dave Creech of Stephen F. Austin University's Mast Arboretum if I should dig up a tree that had been in the ground that long. He gave the go-ahead while it was still dormant. After all, what did I have to lose?

Good point.

So last Sunday afternoon, I paid for my arrogance and endured the awful sound of roots being severed by my shovel. The tree is now recuperating from its major surgery in a shady spot on my back deck.

Only time will tell if Mother Nature will forgive me for my transgression.