At last anxiety begins to wane…
Jun. 18th, 2018 12:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
osodecanelaI’ve been pushing myself in the yard for the past week. Fire season is fast upon us; There was a small fire right in the Lower Lake just this past week, and another much more serious in Oroville just last Thursday. After the devastating fire storm since last fall that devastated so much of the north bay area, including right here in Lake County, I am anxious. Most people enjoy a cool summer breeze at night. For me, it strikes fear in my heart. Will this wind down a powerline that starts the next firestorm?
Drybrush is tinder. The late winter & early spring rain gave rise to luxurious growth of weeds seemingly overnight. By the middle of April I was weeding on a daily basis trying to drive the overgrowth is far from the house if I could, only to have to start all over again no more than a week later. By early May, of the rooms were over and soon weeds began to brown. At least they stopped growing, but not before some more distant from the house were taller than I.
Moreover, now that so much of the greenery has sprung back to life, dear wood has declared itself much more clearly than when things were still dormant. It’s everywhere. Last week I bloody well freaked. With the total destruction of the market in Middletown from fire the end of last month, finding so much tinder ANYWHERE on my property was unnerving. So almost daily I’ve been out on the property somewhere weeding or hacking back deadwood. I’m not finished yet, but I’m a lot further along tonight than this time a week ago.
The side of the property along Park Dr outside our fence line is clear, rounding the corner & going a short way up Cliff. I’ve got a solid 80 foot perimeter around the house, Although they were direction where I am much further out. Yesterday morning while having breakfast on the porch I noticed some branches off to the west side of the house that needed to be pruned. I got my heavy duty pruning shears, only to realize when I got to the tree in question that the branches needed to come off were well out of my reach, unless I had the poke saw. Off I went to the barn to fetch the saw, Only to see how much more needed to come off of trees touching the barn. It weighs five hours later before I return to the first tree in question. I left a pile of deadwood near the back gate which I started breaking down today.
There was a dead bay tree on the far side of the former chicken coop, an absolute eyesore, & God forebid, a potential lightning rod, given its height. That was a priority to get rid of.
So I sit here now on my front porch swing, enjoying the cool breeze this early morning on my bare skin, feeling just a bit safer, and just a bit more accomplished. I’m a bit stiff & sore, but nothing a back rub, a hot shower & a couple of Tylenol won’t manage. Moreover, my work over the last year at the gym is paying off. My arms appear up to meeting the challenge of everything I’m doing. While you’re not about to see me in any centerfold, the idea of taking off my shirt in front of someone else no longer unnerves me. On the Gabriel Iglesias Scale I’ve left “Oh hell no!”, & “damn!” behind me, & I suspect “Fluffy” as well. I’m not there yet, but moobs are definitely turning in to pecs.
Drybrush is tinder. The late winter & early spring rain gave rise to luxurious growth of weeds seemingly overnight. By the middle of April I was weeding on a daily basis trying to drive the overgrowth is far from the house if I could, only to have to start all over again no more than a week later. By early May, of the rooms were over and soon weeds began to brown. At least they stopped growing, but not before some more distant from the house were taller than I.
Moreover, now that so much of the greenery has sprung back to life, dear wood has declared itself much more clearly than when things were still dormant. It’s everywhere. Last week I bloody well freaked. With the total destruction of the market in Middletown from fire the end of last month, finding so much tinder ANYWHERE on my property was unnerving. So almost daily I’ve been out on the property somewhere weeding or hacking back deadwood. I’m not finished yet, but I’m a lot further along tonight than this time a week ago.
The side of the property along Park Dr outside our fence line is clear, rounding the corner & going a short way up Cliff. I’ve got a solid 80 foot perimeter around the house, Although they were direction where I am much further out. Yesterday morning while having breakfast on the porch I noticed some branches off to the west side of the house that needed to be pruned. I got my heavy duty pruning shears, only to realize when I got to the tree in question that the branches needed to come off were well out of my reach, unless I had the poke saw. Off I went to the barn to fetch the saw, Only to see how much more needed to come off of trees touching the barn. It weighs five hours later before I return to the first tree in question. I left a pile of deadwood near the back gate which I started breaking down today.
There was a dead bay tree on the far side of the former chicken coop, an absolute eyesore, & God forebid, a potential lightning rod, given its height. That was a priority to get rid of.
So I sit here now on my front porch swing, enjoying the cool breeze this early morning on my bare skin, feeling just a bit safer, and just a bit more accomplished. I’m a bit stiff & sore, but nothing a back rub, a hot shower & a couple of Tylenol won’t manage. Moreover, my work over the last year at the gym is paying off. My arms appear up to meeting the challenge of everything I’m doing. While you’re not about to see me in any centerfold, the idea of taking off my shirt in front of someone else no longer unnerves me. On the Gabriel Iglesias Scale I’ve left “Oh hell no!”, & “damn!” behind me, & I suspect “Fluffy” as well. I’m not there yet, but moobs are definitely turning in to pecs.
