Last week's post that lingered

[elainegrey]

In, "Oy, that backfired!" news, i asked my boss for some additional work. (Not bluntly, not, "i need a few more deadlines to stop procrastinating.") Instead i got some praise for how i advised a reinterpretation of requirements (so that it was consistent with current infrastructure instead of a change that would be ridiculously expensive to support). The praise was in the form of, "If you just sat there in North Carolina for the rest of the year, that one comment would pay for you -- not that i want you to do that."

My inner six year old really didn't need to hear that.

--== ∞ ==--

California plant life doesn't go through the volume of growth as occurs here. There's a native plant closely related to sunflowers, Smallanthus uvedalius, that was growing at the edge of the yard when we moved in. It grows eight to ten foot tall from a tuber in ... must be 6 weeks? I'm astounded. I've transplanted some from where they are at the edge of the woods near where the previous owners had their garden plot to the base of the tall tulip poplar that stands alone near the side of the house.

The tallness of the tulip poplar is accentuated by the absence of lower branches. It clearly had company as the cluster of stumps reveals. And, as the sprouting of the stumps shows, i think the trees were part of efforts to make the house salable. I would not be surprised if "you need more natural light" was a bit of the consideration. Some of the trees were quite close, though, so there's that. Some small spurs have leafed out on the naked trunk, so i am in hopes that the tree will someday look a little less naked. On the other hand, it shades the garden for a bit in the afternoon. I suppose i will welcome that as the moment when i can say to myself, quick, get some work in before it's back in the full glare.

I don't know if i've written about the extent that the yard seems like it was abandoned. We find things like full bags of rotted manure just sitting in places. Off the back deck, in the back yard are toys for children and dogs, clothing, broken windchimes, grilling tools. I imagine a grandmother telling a crying child that the toy is gone and there's no getting it back. It's like flotsam and jetsam swept off into the great ocean jungle. I've speculated about why everything was abandoned, and my initial theories of failed health don't hold up. I have a new theory: a fear of ticks.

Ugh.

--== ∞ ==--

We've had a nice rain come through, and it's cooled off. Just a few degrees cooler at night seems to make a difference in whether i sleep through the night or not. Huzzah for programmable thermostats.

Comments

[randomdreams]

I hauled out multiple bags of rotted grass and compost from my grandparents' back yard, because my grandfather got sick fairly suddenly, leaving them there, and never got well again, and by the time he'd passed away my grandmother's vision had gone to the point where she no longer left the house alone.

[elainegrey]

That's what i had been assuming until i started talking to the folks who knew them, and then met the husband. The husband was in fine health, and the wife had just retired from being a physical therapist.