Wednesday, August 12, 2009, 04:46
Lilacs and Roses
The power company returned two weeks ago to finish their hatchet job. They BUTCHERED my beautiful, lovely old oak tree. I am estimating that the tree was 80 to 100 years old. There's only a third of it left now. They cut off two-thirds of the branches all the way up to the top.
The tree was like an old friend. It had the most lovely symmetrical crown. And now most of it is gone.
Randy and I counted the rings on some of the "branches," and the branches had 50 rings. So if the branches were 50 years old, that's why I am figuring the main part of the tree is 80 to 100 years old. It was probably just a sprout when my dad was born in 1914 and my when mother was born in 1916. We have another oak tree in the east side yard that Randy planted almost 10 years ago, and it's about a foot high now.
Every time I look at what's left of my majestic tree -- and I try not to -- I feel like crying.
The reasoning from the power company for butchering my beautiful tree was that the tree "might" fall on the power line.
Well, jeepers. Let's see. We've been here 14 years, and tree branches have never blown off and landed on the line. In fact, no branches have blown off any of the trees in the last 14 years.
And if the tree is 80 years, and it was perfectly symmetrical, it would stand to reason that it had never lost any branches and was not in the habit of losing branches.
I don't know why it upsets me so much when trees are chopped down, but I think it's because you don't replace a tree overnight. No, you have to wait 50 years or 80 years or 100 years for the tree to be replaced.
Randy and I have started building a split-rail fence along the few trees that are left to make a privacy fence between the house and the road. It's not really split rails, it's actually pine poles from the across the road in the big pines. The "new growth" trees are growing so close together in some places in the big pines (also about 80 years old) that none of them will have a chance. We are thinning them out and using them for the fence.
I have also planted some lilac bushes along the edge of the yard, and I transplanted a rugosa rose, but I don't think the rugosa is going to make it. I will have to transplant another one.
And I have put in a call to Goodwill, too, to see when they get in artificial Christmas trees. I am going to stick some artificial trees out there along the road to provide a screen until other things get a chance to grow. The gentleman on the telephone at Goodwill says they get them in the store in late October. Perhaps I can find other ones sooner than that in other stores. If not, I am definitely making a trip to Goodwill in early November -- with any luck at all before the ground freezes so I can plant my artificial trees.
LeAnn R. Ralph
Tuesday, August 04, 2009, 05:48
What's That Wet Stuff?
I am still in a mild state of shock.
Sunday afternoon the sky began to cloud over. The weather had been downright cool on Saturday, and at times it even felt a little cold outside.
Sunday the temperature started to rise and so did the humidity, And then the clouds began to gather Sunday evening. A few drops of rain fell, not even enough to wet the grass. And then the clouds passed over, and by the time it was dark, the stars were shining.
I figured that was it for the rain.
But later on, when I went outside with Pixie, I saw lightning flashing to the south. I could not hear any thunder, I could only see flashes of lightning. I assumed the storm would pass to the south as the storms have usually been doing for the last six years.
In a little while, I started to hear thunder. And the flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder came closer. And closer.
And then the sky opened up and it began to rain.
All together, we ended up with an inch of rain. An inch. One whole inch. An inch of glorious rain.
Unfortunately, the rain pounded on the roof so hard that Henry, Katerina and Dora were terrified. Well, not Katerina so much. But Henry and Dora. They were beside themselves. When they were just kittens last year, we got a storm in May with knobby hail nearly the size of tennis balls. The hail made quite a racket on the roof. And it apparently made quite an impression on Henry and Dora. At the time, I knew they were frightened and hiding behind the furniture. I did not know it would make such a lasting impression on them. Poor little kitties.
Once the rain slowed down and was not pounding on the roof so hard, Henry and Dora calmed down. Then I could go back to being delighted that it was raining.
And surprise of surprises, another thunderstorm is rolling through now on Monday night. I don't know how much rain we will get out of this one. But at least it is raining.
LeAnn R. Ralph
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