Serena Mangus has a BS in Applied Ecology. As a Volunteer Master Naturalist and Certified Interpretive Guide, she teaches school groups (kindergarten through high school) about local flora and fauna and leads outdoor-education programs for people of all ages. She fell in love with cottonwood trees on a hot day in Zion National Park-lying in their shade, hearing the wind rustle their leaves, hearing the splash of the river-and began to learn all she could about them. She continues to seek out cottonwood trees in all seasons, and one day the idea for this story came to her.