This is the LADDER OF LIFE. At the bottom of the ladder is a string of nine shoes that I discovered in the myrtle nearby, intentionally discarded by a previous teenage resident of our home. There is only one shoe of a pair, beginning with a quite small adolescent flip-flop shoe an ending in a large teenager sneaker, with a variety in between-a young man marking his growth. When the ladder is reached the serious climb of life begins. What should be at the top? Wisdom, I think. Others might choose wealth, or status, or power. What do you think?