07 November 2011

Trees: Friends AND Foes


Merry Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Halloween???

Two had to do a science project on the element Oxygen. He mentioned how trees are our friends, converting our carbon dioxide into life-sustaining oxygen. 

Unless their colorful autumn leaves catch twelve inches of snow. Then they do this:







This is a picture of the two huge branches dangling from the trees at the top of my driveway.
The Captain assures me that they will fall into the woods when they finally lose all their leaves.


I don't believe him. Because trees are the enemy.
Although my house is surrounded by large, leafy, deciduous denizens of the forest, I had not previously considered them a threat. Now I can't drive down the road without noticing every limb that menacingly dangles above me. I speed under them, convinced they might snap at any moment.
The trees are out to get me.
Or, worse, my power, which has been tenuously restored. Until the next big storm.


Tomorrow in the Diary: I think it's my mother's fault.

6 comments:

  1. Although I love trees, I haven't been personally inconvenienced by any apart from really missing your blog after this big storm. I live amid farm ground, flat and bare, and the wind whips through my yard like a bad day in Kansas with nary a tree in sight.

    However, each year I have to teach The Secret Life of Trees by Chiara Chevalier to second graders and the nefariously detailed informational nonfiction is a real bitch to teach and test. So I join in your angry mob on that basis.

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  2. I'm so glad you're back! I was just thinking about you earlier today and wondering if things were back to normal yet. We get those out-of-season snow storms, too, when the trees still have leaves. They're a huge pain. Ours are usually in June, though.

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  3. There are still a few people down here with no power. And our front yard looks so damn bare with the beautiful maple gone. Its really hard to look at all the destruction and not be sad.

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  4. You're back! I'd say, "Oh, how horrible!" except I can look down our roads and see the same. No, wait. It's still horrible. Fortunately (?), we lost a lot when we had that ice storm in 2009, so the damage wasn't quite as bad in my back yard. Good luck with the clean-up.

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  5. I have a HUGE tree in my back yard, right beside my master bedroom. (There are other trees around, but this one is old and massive.) All I can say is that I hope it wants to stay RIGHT where it is.

    Welcome back and welcome back to your power!

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  6. @Lora and Barb: When I got back online, I was gazing longingly at the pictures of Montana posted on "Montana For Real," because there AREN'T ANY TREES. But I suppose there's a downside to everything.

    @KarenB: I heard the chainsaws working today in the neighborhood across from mine. As of Friday, they still had a huge tree across their road, which took out poles and wires. I'm hoping they finally got power! I'm sorry for your tree--I've really got nothing against maples. It's the oaks that worry me.

    @Delia: I thought about you, up there in the scary tree-filled woods. I'm glad you're all safe!

    @Carrie: The Captain and I have already made plans to take down all the huge trees around our driveway. We're thoroughly spooked. Not that YOUR trees have any bad intentions...

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