joys and blessings

The joys and blessings of having 20 full-sized trees on a city-sized lot.

Joys:
1. Lots of shade in the summer
2. They're pretty.

Blessings:
1. Great exercise picking up the numerous twigs and branches it drops all summer long so it doesn't chew up the lawn mower.

2. Grass won't grow. (That so-called "shade grass seed" they sell? Bull.) So I don't have much mowing.

3. Birds love the trees. And the piles and piles shit they drop would be great fertilizer... if grass would grow. But it really spices up the color of an otherwise gray and bland driveway.

4. The huge pile of leaves you rake up is great for the neighborhood kids to jump in, kick around and respread (because you ran out of daylight before you could carry it away because what you thought would take a couple hours turned into 6 hours of raking) thus giving you twice the exercise because you have to re-rake.

5. The ice is so pretty on the branches. Even when they're laying all over the yard and driveway because you didn't heed the warning of a neighbor who said that most of the trees were diseased and need to be either seriously trimmed or cut down because you liked the shade and cutting down the trees would be unthinkable.

6. And more exercise because ice laden branches weight a whole lot more than non-ice laden branches as you haul them out of the driveway. But the exercise is good because it warms the body and you need that warmth because the power has been out for a while and though you have a fireplace, the cheap ass contractor who built your house put in a very non-efficient fireplace that sends most of the heat up the chimney and it really only warms about 10 sq ft of a 2700 sq ft house.

Otherwise we're in good spirits. The power is back on today. We spent the evening at a friends, drinking wine and crying over "Steel Magnolias."

My mantra: "I love the trees, they add beauty and value. I love the trees, they add beauty and value. I love the trees, they add beauty and value."