You don't know what you've got until it's gone.
Big Yellow Taxi by Joani Mitchell
Joe dismounted and slung the reins over the railing. He noted that the wood had almost rotted through and he frowned as he added it to a mental checklist of the things that needed doing before they left for home. Of course, Miss Carrie would fuss and complain and he'd grumble and bicker right back and his pa would wonder just what the devil had gotten into his youngest son to be so rude to a woman. And then Miss Carrie would shake her head and purse her lips at him and he'd break into a grin and bust out laughing while his pa would be left floundering for words as he and Miss Carrie enjoyed their own private game.
It had been the same for the last day or so since his father had arrived with Hoss and that Mister Jenks, just in time to save Joe from a bullet in the head. The doc had patched them both up, then tended to Miss Carrie's hand, in amongst her grizzling and complaining that it was all better and didn't need no doctorin' no more.
Joe grinned to himself as he patted at his pocket once again. The sliver of paper of the title deed felt like it could have been the Declaration of Independence itself. It was certainly the most important piece of paper that Carrie Pickett could have ever held in her hands. Joe shook his head at the thought as he turned to look at the house. No. It was the second most important. The first would have been her marriage licence.
Joe found himself once again wondering what Amos Pickett looked like. Miss Carrie had never said anything of his physical appearance. She had only talked of his character. It was clear that he was a man to be reckoned with, having carved out their piece of paradise up here in the mountains. Of course, he'd also managed to stay happily married to the most stubborn, cantankerous woman he'd ever laid eyes on! The man deserved a sainthood.
As Joe glanced up into the piney woods that the Picketts had both loved so much, he frowned at the thought that it could have all been destroyed. Greedy men had plans that included the wholesale destruction of the forests with nary a thought to the consequences. His pa had taught them different. For every tree they cut down, they planted another. He held a hand to shade his eyes as he looked up into the hills and swallowed hard.
What was it his pa had said?
You don't know what you've got until it's gone.
Miss Carrie so loved her piney woods and they were as close to paradise as she could get on this earth. Joe glanced upwards into the bluest of skies and smiled. They'd won the battle for the time being. Nobody was going to tear down paradise today.