How could I be hopelessly out of style at the dump? Why was I even at the dump? I blame it on Pamida, a department store in the old Luckyâs shopping plaza where over three decades ago I bought three sapling birch trees on sale for $6 each. I was 29 years old, pregnant, with a new house. I needed trees. âDonât plant birch trees,â every old timer told me. âTheyâll die.â I had faith in Pamida. I purchased the young birches, planted them, watered them faithfully and they grew and grew, enjoying the morning sun until this year when they died. I loved the birch trees that had grown taller than my house, and that now had to be cut down and taken to the dump.