Back when this Big Top had a dirt lot for a backyard, Bill thought that I was insane because I wanted trees, lots of trees in the backyard. Part of my motivation was the view from my bedroom window of my neighbor’s undies drying in the breeze as they hung from her lovely gazebo, but mostly I was yearning for trees in this brand-new development that was to be our home and our neighborhood. So Bill planted the trees, nine of them, and I was a happy camper. Most of them are thriving and growing taller and taller as the months and years have gone by. They don’t quite block the gazebo that is a clothesline just yet but time is all they need. just draw the curtains in my bedroom so I don’t have to look at their underwear.
While most of the trees that we planted two years ago are doing well, there is the evergreens. Bill planted three together to form a triangle in one corner of the property. One is growing well as it is filling out and has grown about twice it’s original height.
Just imagine the three trees growing like this in that corner of the yard. Pretty isn’t it?
Unfortunately, the other two just aren’t shooting up like the big guy. In fact one is pretty much dead. At least it looks dead to me.
So I ask my darling husband if we should perhaps just pull that dead/dying bad boy out. He answers that this tree is not dead. Not dead, I wonder. But it is brown and dried up in spite of everything we have done and not done for it. He insists that it is not dead.
Okay, four branches on the very top of this 8 foot tree are green so it isn’t dead…yet. But Bill is certain that it will be okay. What makes him so sure?
Why tree #3 of course! Last year it also was nearly completely dried up and brown save for five branches on the bottom. So Bill removed practically the entire tree except for the green branches on the bottom and sure enough it grew back. It may be only 4 feet tall but perhaps it just might make it. So the dead/dying 8 foot tree remains just outside my kitchen window where I have the pleasure of looking at it while I drink my morning coffee and work on the computer.
I’m thinking of inviting my neighbor behind me to hang her laundry outside my kitchen window…especially the underwear.
Categories: darling husband · home improvement
Some economic experts calmly reassure us on infotainment shows that we are not in a recession…yet. They may know all things in the bond market and interest rates but it’s hard not to believe them when we are paying out more than $4/gallon of gas or when we watch yet another neighbor pack up and give up their American dream to foreclosure. People, like my husband, are out of work with no promise of steady income in the future. We’re doing okay right now but whose to say how long we will be okay…or how long it will take for me to go crazy with my darling husband home and underfoot catching up on his laptop solitaire and Law and Order marathons.
Today it seems very likely that there will be more folks sucker punched financially in my state as our Governator signed an executive order to cut state jobs and wages. Now, I can try to appreciate the dilemma he struggled with because the fact my state’s governing body was unable to get a working budget into place before the beginning of this fiscal year was no surprise. What would have been a surprise would be if they did turn in a budget to the Governor’s desk on time. Of course the Governor’s decision created the perfect opportunity for state legislature leaders to put out their political agenda in their defense. I guess I am supposed to be reassured to know that the legislators are grappling over how to close a $15.2 billion budget gap. I mean they are so sincere when they step up to the press microphones. Frankly I’d rather see them locked up in the State Capitol doing their flipping job. They should remain in Sac, roll up their sleeves and get the job done. Whether I voted for you or not, Greg Aghazarian and Dave Cogdill, you work for me. I contracted you to do your job which includes coming up with a working budget and doing it ON TIME. You have not done your job. In a place like my workplace you would be fired…seriously. Yes, I understand that you both are trying hard to deal with this huge monetary gap without raising my taxes and cutting important programs like the condoms for prisoners pilot program. But the fact remains that you and your colleagues still don’t have a working budget. I think the Governor is cutting the wages of the wrong state employees. It should be your wages that are reduced down to the National minimum wage, not those state employees who are just working for a living. Good people are facing the loss of their homes. Good people are wondering how they can feed their children. Good people are stressing about how they can afford veterinary care for their beloved, lifetime friend. Mr. Aghazarian and Mr. Cogdill, I can’t accept any explanation or excuses from you or your colleagues when I see people genuinely worried about what they will do and how long can they survive this. It’s time for you to stop explaining and defending and to just get your butts to the Capitol and get a budget done…NOW!
Over at Motherhood Uncensored is the beginning of Blog the Recession Month. Will it solve the California State Budget clusterf@%k? Will it bring the price of gasoline down to less than $3 a gallon? Will the stock market stop taking a dump? Will it settle the “adjustment” we have been living with in the real estate market? Will it end this not-really-a-recession recession? Perhaps not. But never underestimate the power of word…I would say the power of the mighty pen but it’s actually a keyboard which given the way the media has lately sat up and taken notice of women bloggers maybe we can bring about some positive change. At the very least it will feel good to get some of this stress, worry and general pissed off feelings off of our chest and maybe if we all jump on this bandwagon we might just discover that we aren’t alone in this not-really-a-recession recession.
Categories: blogging · blogs · in the news
