Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Lift the Eyes, See Farther

Here is the garage at our current house:


Boring, right?  It is what I see every day, sometimes many times a day, when I drive in and out of our driveway.  But if I were to look up, I would see this:


Funny how rarely I do that.  I forget all about the amazing trees we've had in our yard all these years because, you know, they just fade into the background.  There is one in particular that you can't see very well in that picture because it is blocked by the one in front of the garage, so here is another picture:



It's one of the biggest trees I've ever seen.  And it's not even as tall as it used to be-- at some point, probably 25-30 years ago, the top was blown off by lightning.  You can't own a tree, so I won't say it's "our" tree, but we've had the privilege of having it behind our house for the past 12 years.  It has a bee hive.  On hot summer days you can stand below it and listen to the hum of the bees. 

I'll miss this tree.  Even though I didn't notice it most times I drove in the driveway, I've been back to visit it many times.  We actually had one of those tree doctor guys stop one time and knock on the door.  He said, "Don't let anyone tell you to cut that tree down.  It looks like it's dying, but it will be years before it's dead."  Ponderosa pines have very long tap roots, he told us, and even after they're dead, they will continue to stand for years, providing habitat for birds (and bees).

This is zoomed way in at the tippy top. I think an owl lives here, but I've never actually seen it fly in or out.

10 comments:

  1. OK, I am leaving myself a comment because MEGAN has replies to comments now and I want to see if I do, too. That would make me so happy. Although if I don't, it will prove that Blogger loves her more than it loves me, and I shall be sad.

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    1. woo-hoo! look at me, replying to a comment! woot! thanks to Terri, who posted over at Megan's blog how to fix this. This post is the first time that I've ever tried using a jump break (where you insert a specific place for the post to stop on a feed, followed by a "read more" button)-- and wouldn't you know that is what was stopping the new reply feature from working.

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  2. Lol, there are no comments because my damn husband is the most distracting creature on the planet! Whew, he's gone back to work now, I have four full days to fart around, oops, I mean share the bloggy love.

    (Nice title!)
    Julie

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    1. hey, there, Julie! just wanted to REPLY TO YOUR COMMENT, because I can, you know! :-)

      Perhaps I am over-reacting a tad. Anyway, hope Dan's back holds up on the return to work. I knew you'd recognize the title!

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  3. How did you get the reply button?? I am trying to figure this out cuz I wants it precious.

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    1. Hi, Debbie! Here are the instructions: http://buzz.blogger.com/2012/01/engage-with-your-readers-through.html -- way cool, yes? There are two settings you have to check, and then once you do that, it just happens automatically.

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  4. YES!!! I had done something else within HTML (ALWAYS a dangerous thing with me) but it hadn't turned out the way that I wanted.

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  5. Barb - love your trees. I love ponderosa pines. They figure prominently in the novel that is now on the shelf indefinitely.

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    1. I love them, too! fortunately there will still be plenty at the new place-- they're all over around here.

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  6. Beautiful! Love that that dude stopped in to say something.

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