Friday, May 11, 2012

Not that paranoid.

After my last blog, Kelsea asked me if I really thought someone was poisoning our tree(s). I don't. But the thought did cross my mind. There are two reasons it crossed my mind. First: Another of our trees died because it didn't get enough water, but it didn't get enough water because someone closed the sprinkler. Repeatedly. After I replaced the tree, I replaced the sprinkler with one that was slightly broken, so that it couldn't be turned off completely. The new tree has done very well. The second reason I thought of poisoning was because of a couple of news stories of poisoning of trees. Someone poisoned a very old tree on the University of Alabama campus. I think they found out it was a rival school supporter. Also, I read about billboard companies poisoning trees to improve sightlines to their billboards. Neither of those situations remotely applies, which is why I didn't believe the trees had been poisoned. I was more suspicious of the first tree's death, because a big healthy tree there would have shaded my neighbor's pool for part of the day, and possibly dropped leaves in his yard. I don't think he's that petty or bitter, but it was a reason I found plausible, and that tree actually died.

The other tree isn't completely dead. I saw yesterday that there is some new growth coming up from the base of the trunk. Which means it wasn't being poisoned. Just drastically underwatered. But if the roots are healthy, the tree should grow up quickly again, and be a strong tree for me. Here's hoping.

Friday, May 4, 2012

Trees and other random thoughts.

I'm not a paranoid person, but I think someone is poisoning my trees in my front yard, one at a time, for no apparent reason. First it was a eucalyptus tree, then a chitalpa. I think the sprinkler to the eucalyptus was closed, so it dried out. Now I'm watering the chitalpa like crazy, but it's still quite wilted. This is the primary reason I want to get a home surveillance system.

Eli can roll over from his back to his front. He has rolled over from his front to his back, but he doesn't do it often enough that I think he's doing it on purpose or can actually do it if he wants to. Perhaps the motivation is different, and he just doesn't want to.

Jay likes legos. He doesn't like to build or play with legos, but he likes to have them. He does like to play Lego Star Wars, but he is terrible at it. It's tolerable if the map is flat, with no obstacles, because then he doesn't have to make his character jump, or walk around things, both of which he has trouble with.

Mia is an awesome reader. She is probably reading at a second grade level, though I don't know who decides those things. She is the best reader in her class by far. She is almost too smart for her own good, and has decided that she is smarter than her older sister. Fortunately, it doesn't seem to bother Holly, who (allegedly) agrees with her. Of all the things they fight over, I don't think that is one.

Holly is really good at playing the piano. Not prodigy good or anything, she's just doing well. But she prefers to practice early in the day. If it's 45 minutes to bedtime, and I tell her to practice for 15 minutes, she throws a fit. Not a real fit, just a stubborn obstinate fit where she pouts and tries to outlast my attention. But lately I only tell her to practice the piano in those situations if I have no reason to leave the room for 20 minutes. Then I ignore her pouting and wait her out. In the morning, even before school, she's really excited to play, and does a good job.

Kelsea and I have finally painted our bedroom, which involved moving out of it for a while. Now we have moved back in, but our closet is empty, because we haven't painted the inside of that yet.


Interestingly, I am always sucked in by sentences that begin with the word "interestingly."