Monday Meanderings - 8.10.2015

The tree saga(s) continue at our house. First, there's the humongous stump left from the biggest fallen tree on Memorial Day weekend. I called a guy who specializes in grinding stumps. He said he could turn it into a big pile of sawdust with about a day's worth of grinding and the majority of a $1,000 bill. Think I'll plant a bush in front of it. Or maybe take up chain-saw art and make a bear, or a longhorn steer, or a bus out of it.

Next, I got a call from Austin Energy. Since they had already come previously to repair power lines because of my fallen trees, they want to be proactive about some other trees near their lines. There are at present two smaller trees adorned with green ribbons (trim) and two with red ribbons (take 'em down). The good news is that they will haul away everything they cut down, and the better news is that the biggest tree is actually on my neighbor's property.

And then, we returned from a trip last week to find... you guessed it. More downed tree limbs. Not the pecan this time - but a fig tree on the side of the house.

 I just wish it had come down a couple of weeks ago when it was full of figs that I couldn't reach without a ladder. Fig season is over and now the stupid fig tree falls over! It's not safe to be a tree in our yard, I've decided.

Last summer Barb and I visited Mt Rainer, and I reported then that - after signing up for the tour - we were given instructions about what to do if Rainier decided to turn from an inactive volcano into an active one. This summer we spent a couple of days on the Northern California coast and noticed an abundance of signs with this message:

One sees these sorts of signs when you drive up and down the San Andreas Fault. By the way - the instructions are the same for Tsunamis as for volcanoes. Get to higher ground. Yeah, right.

Rental car on this trip was one of those key-less vehicles. They hand you a fob and as long as you have it in your pocket you can start the car. If you lose it, you have a big paperweight on your hands.