Stitchpop

You know it's going to be a rough Monday when you start up your computer and realize you've forgotten your network login.

I also had a bad habit of forgetting my locker combination minutes before the homeroom bell was going to ring.

I'm sunburned and sore, and slightly depressed because we went into gun-ho landscaping mode over the weekend and took down a plum tree. I'm completely glad we did, but still a little weirded out.

The arguments against the tree were entirely logical. It interfered with the DirectTV dish (shut up, this is important!). It hogged sunlight from my garden. It was too close to the house and was effing up the gutters. It regularly dropped an assload of stupid green plums all over the yard that had to be picked up. The dog compulsively ate the green plums and vomited, cheerleader style. And don't even get me started about the ripe plums that squished and rotted everywhere.

It was 100% logical for the conversation to move from "We need to trim that damn thing," to "We need to cut that thing down while we still can!"

In the span of an afternoon (and with the help of a neighbor's chainsaw) (and after a brief conversation about how "kickback" is so much more than political posturing) Gary had dismantled the entire tree into a stack of branches, leaves, and unripened plums.

Gazing at the newly opened-up space, I think we both felt an odd mixture of relief and "hey… where's the tree??"

Adding to my spiritual angst, we discovered a bird's nest in one of the branches.

Man…You stake out what would appear to be the ideal nesting spot, surrounded by an endless supply of ripening fruit and shade for your babies, located in a fenced yard well protected from predators… Everything seems to be going well, and then wowza, some assholes come along with a chainsaw and ruin everything.

There are no guarantees, just brief pockets of happiness.

As it turns out, my string beans got their first real taste of full sunlight, and they were entirely content.