I'm sure Oliver Wendell Holmes had days like this.
We're well into November, with that seasonal crispness in the morning air. So, as I do every morning, I step outside, take a nice long inhale of that brisk air, and...hear the sound of POLICE SIRENS somewhere within a ten-block radius (again). Ahh...just another "typical" day on the SOUTH side.
I look around for my morning newspaper, and lo, it's nowhere to be found (again). Seems the MORNING edition is fast becoming more like a MIDDAY edition. I guess that speedy-ass high tech printing press needs to be seriously DE-BUGGED. Either that, or they should dig out the OLD press as a backup.
Maybe it's time to swap papers for the afternoon edition. This way, if THAT paper is late, I STILL get a "morning" edition. A win-win all around. It's the "life gives you lemons so you make lemonade" thing.
So, while waiting for the paper, I decide to toss another bag of trash in the bin, which is STILL sitting by the driveway waiting to be collected (again - from yesterday when Serv-All apparently forgot that OUR block is STILL on the frigging route).
Then there's that stubborn tree out back.
Every neighborhood has one, I'm sure.
You know what I'm talking about. It's that stodgy old maple or oak that is the very LAST one to drop it's leaves. When other trees have since gone barren, this tardy tree is hanging onto it's foliage like they were $100 bills! And how I wish they were, as the city must surely "think" our money GROWS on those trees.
But that's another tale for another time.
Here's a link for a more apt description of the situation:
This stubborn old tree , in many ways, is my counterpart in the world of flora. This tree doesn't take well to change. It wants to keep things as they were when it looked beautiful, providing shade, and making the place look less like a ghetto...and that about sums me up (except I don't provide all that much shade...well, that and the "beautiful" part...a little handsome perhaps, but NOT beautiful...that's me...LOL).
Damn...it's amazing how those TANGENTS sneak up on you.
That old maple tree doesn't want the cold weather to come...neither do I. Then again, IT doesn't have to put up with assorted aches and pains related to the weather, or layer it's clothing and go shovel snow, or clean out the gutters yearly. But, when spring comes around again, it'll start it's cycle anew...wish I could do likewise, but Father Time has other ideas in mind.
If there is ONE thing about that tree that's truly annoying, it's that when ALL the leaves from ALL the other trees have been gathered up and picked up, this bugger will wait until that last city vehicle is around the corner, AND THEN start it's defoliation with gusto...all over the (newly-cleaned) property, making it look like the lawns haven't seen a rake or a leaf blower in ages (much like everyone else's lawns).
I suppose it wouldn't look AS BAD if some of the OTHER people in the neighborhood KNEW what a rake was (they rarely bother to rake ANY leaves, so you know where they ALL blow to, right?), because a little WORK wouldn't kill any of them (although I might...if provoked sufficiently).
So this tree and I have "come to terms"...after a fashion.
I promise I won't chop it down, and it (looks like it) won't fall on the garage. Fair enough, eh? Let's hope it keeps IT'S part of this "bargain", unlike that tree down the street that dropped a huge part of it's trunk last month (and is still not looking all that much fun to walk under....it's basically a non-tree; it's dead).
At this point, you're probably wondering WHY I "make deals with trees". Well, it's simple enough. These trees tend to be a lot more predictable than ANY of the PEOPLE around here, they hold a LOT BETTER quality of conversation, and are SMARTER than the human flotsam indigenous to the area. I do draw the line at wanting to HUG this tree...leave that to some hippie!
Thank goodness that living down here isn't JUST a job...it IS an adventure.
...And (like Remo Williams) the adventure continues.
Have a safe weekend - hope YOUR paper is ON TIME.
(and your trees are free of leaves)
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