Tuesday, August 23, 2016

UNSER BAUMEN

I could feel a hint of FALL coming down the stairs this morning---a fleeting coolth in the air, a little scent of something turning, turning, in all the green that swathes the outside of the house.

Our dear TREE had a “haircut” yesterday---a recent storm had dropped a bough gently onto the neighbor’s garage, with just the great bowers of leaves and branches touching, and the danger-half still hanging by a great sheaf of bark.   The nice young man went up there like those small island boys after coconuts, going higher and higher amongst those huge smooth limbs til I was quite dizzy from the watching.   He rigged ropes and pulleys and long poles in an intricate pattern, lifting and hauling, and shearing off the largest boughs, dropping them gently to his helpers on the ground.

Then he and his chainsaw made quick work of the broken limb, shearing it off back nearly to the tree in a cut neat as surgery.   That out of the way and safely on the ground, he went round and round the tree, higher and higher, taking down dead limbs and hanging bits, a bit of deadwood and some hints of moss, til she was left clean and shining in the afternoon sun, like a lady stepping out of a salon. 

Our TREE is a marvel---a hackberry of enormous size and presence, and one of the reasons we bought this house.   I know her roots will probably crack foundations and tumble up sidewalks, plus the berries make an infernal mess, coming into the  house pressed into the fanciful patterns of shoe-soles and lurking on the carpet for unwary bare feet, and we cannot keep up with the fall of the millions of leaves, onto patio and furniture even in Summer.   But TREE is a literal Breath of Fresh Air and we love her.

And speaking of GREEN, I’m late to a blog in which I’ve just found a marvelous celebration of the Summer almost past---this lady is not from the South that I’m from, not of a hot and muggy climate and tradition of “fighting the heat,” but her celebration of Summer is simply, joyously beautiful.   She’s in Germany, her name is Mascha, and I swear she’s a G.R.I.T.S. Girl in the making.  Go have a look---immerse yourself in the GREEN! 

6 comments:

  1. I have some dead hanging limbs from a storm that are driving me crazy, but isn't it expensive to have trees trimmed?

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  2. What a marvellous tree! And a good way of life to choose a house by a tree.
    Trees can be our guardian angels...

    I've googeled, what is a hackberry tree (celtis) - seems it isn't in my corner of the world (Harz-mountains in Saxony-Anhalt), in southern areas of Europe are similiar and the fruits are eatable. Never seen before...
    But I have other tree-friends and I will show them, when I come back from my unloved but needes blog break.
    Thanks for your visit and nice comment, I take your blog in my sidebar to find it again.
    Enjoy the last summer days, I cannot belive, that they are the last. But I have an autumn feeling and scent in the air too...

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  3. I do love a good strong wisened climbing tree like my Grandpa/ma Cooper had at 965 Paxford Place in Mansfield, Ohio that was already well established prior to their arrival prior to WWII.
    When I heard the new owners of my Grandparents home had cut down that still healthy majestic old tree, I almost wanted to cry...and shoot them.
    Still do.

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  4. What a great find! Mascha is a soul-poet like you. I look forward to visiting her again when she returns.

    I came to your blog today for oasis, being in desperate need of diversion from things that are. I drank my fill, entry after entry. Thank you so much for the joy you bring into the world with your words.

    Hugs.

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  5. RE: the coming of Fall - from your mouth to God's ear, my friend. I have HAD it with summer.

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  6. I am so ready for the scent of Autumn. I have been duly sniffing, but I haven't yet detected that delight.

    It is so fascinating to watch the arborists at work. We had a few trees limbed up a couple of years ago, and both of us sat outside to watch the entire process.

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