Learning By Doing
They're taking down a tree at the front door,
The power saw is snarling at some nerves,
Whining at others. Now and then it grunts,
And sawdust falls like snow or a drift of seeds.
Rotten, they tell us, at the fork, and one
Big wind would bring it down. So what they do
They do, as usual, to do us good.
Whatever cannot carry its own weight
Has got to go, and so on; you expect
To hear them talking next about survival
And the values of a free society.
For in the explanations people give
On these occasions there is generally some
Mean-spirited moral point, and everyone
Privately wonders if his neighbors plan
To saw him up before he falls on them.
Maybe a hundred years in sun and shower
Dismantled in a morning and let down
Out of itself a finger at a time
And then an arm, and so down to the trunk,
Until there's nothing left to hold on to
Or snub the splintery holding rope around,
And where those big green divagations were
So loftily with shadows interleaved
The absent-minded blue rains in on us.
Now that they've got it sectioned on the ground
It looks as though somebody made a plain
Error in diagnosis, for the wood
Looks sweet and sound throughout. You couldn't know,
Of course, until you took it down. That's what
Experts are for, and these experts stand round
The giant pieces of tree as though expecting
An instruction booklet from the factory
Before they try to put it back together.
Anyhow, there it isn't, on the ground.
Next come the tractor and the crowbar crew
To extirpate what's left and fill the grave.
Maybe tomorrow grass seed will be sown.
There's some mean-spirited moral point in that
As well: you learn to bury your mistakes,
Though for a while at dusk the darkening air
Will be with many shadows interleaved,
And pierced with a bewilderment of birds.
The power saw is snarling at some nerves,
Whining at others. Now and then it grunts,
And sawdust falls like snow or a drift of seeds.
Rotten, they tell us, at the fork, and one
Big wind would bring it down. So what they do
They do, as usual, to do us good.
Whatever cannot carry its own weight
Has got to go, and so on; you expect
To hear them talking next about survival
And the values of a free society.
For in the explanations people give
On these occasions there is generally some
Mean-spirited moral point, and everyone
Privately wonders if his neighbors plan
To saw him up before he falls on them.
Maybe a hundred years in sun and shower
Dismantled in a morning and let down
Out of itself a finger at a time
And then an arm, and so down to the trunk,
Until there's nothing left to hold on to
Or snub the splintery holding rope around,
And where those big green divagations were
So loftily with shadows interleaved
The absent-minded blue rains in on us.
Now that they've got it sectioned on the ground
It looks as though somebody made a plain
Error in diagnosis, for the wood
Looks sweet and sound throughout. You couldn't know,
Of course, until you took it down. That's what
Experts are for, and these experts stand round
The giant pieces of tree as though expecting
An instruction booklet from the factory
Before they try to put it back together.
Anyhow, there it isn't, on the ground.
Next come the tractor and the crowbar crew
To extirpate what's left and fill the grave.
Maybe tomorrow grass seed will be sown.
There's some mean-spirited moral point in that
As well: you learn to bury your mistakes,
Though for a while at dusk the darkening air
Will be with many shadows interleaved,
And pierced with a bewilderment of birds.
~by Howard Nemerov
This tree also caught my attention. I have no idea what kind it is, but these weird pods are popping open.
February is always kind of a schizophrenic mix of fall and spring out here.
The following always catches my attention. The tree that you can see the base of was planted on our campus back when there was "THE" world war - hadn't been 2 of them yet.
I LOVE ROOTS! 
We had family events - good, bad and regular.
I just noticed that the above is quite a male-dominated picture!
My children have grown up a lot. I can't believe Anthony can create and consume such a thing as you see below!
Then there's Jacob who's taller than his older brother AND taller than I am! And, of course Caleb who turned 12 this week and was featured in these posts (
I am able to put so much time into a post today because I TURNED IN MY FIRST FULL DRAFT OF MY THESIS!!!! Now it is in the hands of my advisor to revise, and I CAN'T work on it this weekend! It has been hanging over me for so long. Last week I even moved out of the house and moved in with my brother so as not to be disturbed while I worked. Here it is:
I have been doing pretty much nothing else other than work on my thesis. As a result, notice the health of the weeds in my yard:
I almost pulled this one, but it has been living and growing so long and is so lush - think of all the soil, water and sun that went into it - all the photosynthesis - that I didn't have the heart to pull it and took a picture instead!
Yes, I do have some "legitimate" flowers in my yard too (but "who says purple is a weed and pink and white is posies?"). I do love my lilies!
I even had time to go for a walk today and enjoyed the cloudy sky and the season continuing to transition from fall to spring.
Fog is my favorite weather. I couldn't resist getting outside and going for a walk in it.
The white background makes such a nice canvas for color! 
I can't wait until our oranges are ready - any day now!
Technically it is still autumn, at least for another week or so . . .
. . . but the buds on this tree make it seem like spring already wants to make an appearance!
I feel very cozy when walking in the fog.
Can you find the sun in the picture below? (It is right in the center.)
One last splash of color from this foggy day:
