Trees

 In our neighborhood and nearby, the ornamental trees are lighting up with their peak of autumn color. 

Over at the park where we walk, there are pillars of fire.

In our yard the bright colors of maples haven't begun yet, but it's time for the cedar tree drop.

On Monday afternoon we were out in the yard preparing for a tree crew to come on Tuesday.

I raked up all of the accumulated cedar droppings and Tom moved furniture and pots off the patio.

On Tuesday, today, the crew from Pacific Arborculture arrived to begin the work of trimming our massive cedar tree and removing large dead branches from one of our large fir trees.

It took a while for this tree trimmer to get rigged up. He does his work suspended from ropes, much like a mountain climber. Here he is way up in the cedar tree.

His ground crewman helps manage ropes and equipment. He also carried big branches down the driveway to the chipper truck, since the truck was too big for the driveway.

On the ground some things could be reached by a long pole saw. 

Cleanup is part of the service. 

When they had the cedar tree done they moved to the Douglas Fir tree. That dark spot in the tree is the tree trimmer. 

Can you see them, up above and down below. When the grounds crewman wasn't assisting, he was cutting up limbs and hauling the green material out to the chipper truck. 

Sunlight can now get through.

The "logs" are ready to be cut up for firewood. The patio is all cleaned up, at least until the next big cedar drop. 

No more limbs overhanging the roof, and needles are blown off. 

Fir tree logs. 

This afternoon we got pots and furniture back on the patio. I did a little more cleaning up around the edges. Tom cut off a few more small low hanging branches with his pole trimmer. 

There is so much more light in the kitchen now.

We are happy with the work, expensive as it was. These guys are skilled. You pay for that, but these are important legacy trees, some of the few left in the neighborhood. They get special care. 

From BIG to tiny, here's another tree that gets special care, another one of Tom's bonsai trees. This is a grove style, made up of many Japanese Zelcova trees.

Tom designed and planted this grove maybe 30 years ago. It rewards us every autumn. 

It you live where trees bring autumn glory, be sure to go out and appreciate their beauty. November wind and rain will strip them all too soon. 
 

No Kings Rally

 

Yes, we were there again, joining the Seniors For the Constitution at the plaza in the small suburban town of Des Moines, WA. Our friend Jan joined us as we parked ourselves on the curb, holding our signs and waving and smiling. Some people ask me why I protest. The list is long, too long for one sign, so most of us pick one thing to focus on. This was a NO KINGS rally, held nationwide, to protest the Trump administration's steady move toward authoritarianism. Trump himself published a picture of himself as King, and gaudied  up the Oval Office with all kinds of gold. He loves gold. He is also usurping his power right and left.

My sign says why I am there.

We had our biggest turn out yet, and what fun we had joining with like minded people in a spirit of comradery. Republicans reported that we hate America. Not true. We love our country. That's why we're there. They said we were paid protestors. That's a joke. Trump is the one making money. They reported that we are just a bunch of goofy old oddballs acting stupid. Not true. While many of us at this location are elderly, we are joined here and everywhere by people of all ages who care about their country. Acting stupid? Well, I guess they didn't get the talking points about the inflatable costumes or the frogs.

It started in Portland, Oregon, when a protester decided to dress in a frog costume to confront the menacing ICE Agents at the Immigration Detention Center using humor to diffuse the tension. It caught on.

If you think these protestors are menacing, watch out for Halloween! :-) Ribbit!

Appointments, Taxi Service, Planting and Picking Flowers

 On Monday I had a brief dental appointment to confirm that, yes, I need a root canal. Since I already pretty much knew that, I had already scheduled an appointment. That will happen in two weeks, before I go back to have my permanent crowns put on. I am weary of dental work.

On Wednesday I had a phone appointment to report on the results of my hip flexor injection. It worked and there is much less pain. Now I need to get in touch with my physical therapist to make sure I am doing strengthening exercises before the steroid wears off. 

On Tuesday Jake took us up on our offer to get him out of the house for a walk. While he still has pain from his broken ribs, he is doing pretty well. We went to the marina to enjoy the sunshine and the "refreshing" wind. 

Then we stopped for coffee and tea at the Quarterdeck, where we were mostly out of the wind and soaked up some sun. 

On Tuesday and Wednesday we spent a lot of time in the garden, cleaning out beds, getting ready to plant tulips. I spent a lot of time on my knees, so by today it was time to stay off my knee, which was now hurting, even with plenty of padding under it.

Today we got all of the tulip bulbs into nursery cans, ready to put into the ground. This is just one bed. 

We were going to plant this afternoon, but Jake called needing taxi service, so Tom went off to do that. I went outside and collected yard art to store in the shed, and I picked flowers for the kitchen table. 

Tom's Trident Maple bonsai is starting to put on it's autumn show. So pretty. 

Now I am sitting at the computer with the office TV on, watching baseball. The Mariners are playing the Toronto Blue Jays for the American League Championship. 

The Mariners won the first two games in Toronto, and now it looks like Toronto will win the first two games back in Seattle. Watching baseball has too many highs and lows. High hopes are being crushed. But there are at least two games to go. When your team is losing you need to remember that sports are fun, right?

 

Seattle Is A Sports Town

 All last week we watched baseball. Seattle was obsessed with baseball. The Seattle Mariners were playing Detroit in the American League playoffs. On Friday they won game 5 and advanced to the ALCS. ( American League Championship)  The victory caused an earthquake at the stadium. Really, it measured 3 on the Richter Scale. 

That same evening the University of Washington Huskies played five miles away in their stadium and beat Rutgers.

On Saturday there were lots of college football games. I watched some. Unfortunately my other Oregon and Washington teams lost.

Saturday evening the Sounders played a home match against Salt Lake. Jill and Tom were there.

I watched at home. They won.

This morning the Seahawks played in Florida and beat the Jacksonville Jaguars. 

After that was over we had lunch and then went for a walk. Now I am trying to get this post finished so I can watch the Mariners again as they start their playoff against the Toronto Blue Jays. There will be baseball all week again, or as long as the Mariners can hold out. 

But just in case you don't care anything at all about sports, here is Tom working on one of his bonsai trees, which he's doing right now in the garage. 

And this week I finally put my dried hydrangeas in vases. Here are some of them.

And there was at least one more bouquet of summer flowers left to be enjoyed on the kitchen table.

It's cold, 52, and spitting rain, but we'll be warm inside as we watch sports. It's time for more baseball. 

Walking Is Hard

 

It was a beautiful day Tuesday as I went out for my walk in the park after our Zoom meet up. Walking a mile is hard work, but it also makes me feel good.

It just so happened that son Jake was also out, on a vigorous bike ride, enjoying the morning, until he wasn't. I got a call in the early afternoon, "I need help". He was on a local bike path, going full speed, when he hit a bump he didn't see because of fallen leaves, went flying, and landed on his handle bars. I had him call 911 and by the time Tom caught up with him he was already being transported to the nearby hospital. 

He's OK, not life threatening, but he has three cracked ribs, strained abdominal muscles, a partially collapsed lung, and scrapes and bruises. He lives with Jill and she is tending to him. She brought him home today to begin the painful healing process. Yes, walking for him will be hard too. 

I have stuff from my many surgeries, so we brought over a bed wedge and a bed tray from our supply in the attic.

We visited him for a short time last night in the hospital. He is managing.

Tuesday afternoon, while I was listening to Mariners baseball, and trying not to worry about Jake, I decorated. Tom got the Autumn tub out of the attic and I set everything out, pretty much where they go every year. 

I still have summer flowers. They'll soon be traded for dried hydrangeas. 

The 120 year old pumpkin candy jars, from my mother-in-law's childhood, are still a treasured feature.

Today we went to a farmer's market, then dropped stuff off at Jill's. My exercise today was doing 30 minutes on my stationary bike. No crashes on that bike.

Does that look like rain? Nope, still not yet. Maybe this weekend we'll get some much needed rain. I should have gone for a walk, but I didn't have enough oomph. Walking is hard.