I told Don I feel like a hermit who had to go through an encounter with other human beings (even a nice one, such as with our tree guys) and must now retreat from society. The day with all the tree cutting activity and the necessary interactions with the guys left me feeling exhausted and longing to retreat back into my little compound here at Mockingbird Hill Cottage. That really hit home with me when we drove to a neighboring town yesterday to pick up a book order. We had been working on cleaning up the property right before we left, and the drive was lovely, but I was tired. We got out of the car walked through the town, picked up the books, and when we had circled back, Don said “Let’s go home.” Even the little trip and the chance to walk on sidewalks didn’t do it for us. All we wanted to do was go home and stay home.

Is this the new normal? Am I becoming a hermit of sorts? I don’t know. But as we watched some of Rachel Maddow last night, a segment in which she spoke of Orange Man’s new Coronavirus advisor – a guy with no background in epidemiology, by the way – who thinks ‘herd immunity’ is the way to go, really hit home. She mentioned that the elderly are impacted by younger family members and by trips to the supermarket where they interact with all ages and I turned to Don and said, “Let’s order our groceries online. Now.”

We had been planning on taking a trip to our local supermarket. But somehow, this whole week, which has been an intense one for us, including Don’s visit to the doctor, has been too much and we cannot contemplate any sort of interaction with another human being.

So Don is going to retrieve the groceries around noon.

Does this make any sense to you? It’s where I am this morning.

Our books. Love the sticker, which says: Small Town Heroes Shop Local.

I have a Jane Gardam in there, Old Filth. Don has another Maggie O’Farrell.

This little town is proudly displaying Black Lives Matter signs. And signs like this one:

It does my heart good to see this. To remember there is good in the world, though it can be hard to find during these times.

Okay. I hope you are having a restful holiday weekend. We plan to do the same.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

Yesterday was a long day, with a lot of activity. We’re ready for a quiet weekend, though it will certainly be filled with the sound of motorcycles, especially as it’s Labor Day weekend. Cyclists love to use this road and do it frequently. Last Sunday, there were hundreds of cycles going up and down this road and I thought I might go mad.

Anyway, back to the trees, which was the focus yesterday. The three guys who were the crew for the day were great. This is a small, family-owned business focused not only on the removal of trees but on saving trees. The owner and his son are arborists. When they arrived they had two big trucks, one armed with a basket used to reach the higher parts of the trees, one with the wood chipper attached, and a little vehicle that had been dropped off the day before. They used that little vehicle all over the place, it had a scoop that could pick up big logs. Unfortunately, we’re going to have to tamp down the tread marks it made all over the former corral and beyond. There was no helping this, as we’d had a lot of rain in the previous 48 hours. But, no ruts on the front lawn, which was our biggest concern. They managed to prune the big maple from the area where we usually park my car, instead of driving on the lawn.

They arrived about 9:20, and by 11:00 they had completely removed the part of the large maple that fell during the hurricane – and it was huge  – and had also taken down the two dead ash trees. We couldn’t believe how quickly they worked. They also saw that there were a couple of trees that had previously fallen up in the back forty and they asked if we wanted to get rid of them. Yes! So they did.

They charge a day rate and everything that can get done during that time is done, and that includes pruning. They pruned the big maple by the house, removing branches that were covering the porch roof and coming perilously close to the chimney. They removed dead branches within the tree and pruned some of the low hanging branches to relieve some of the weight. They were completely responsive to my desire to leave some shade for the hosta bed near the porch and they honored that. I had them remove a long limb that arched over the big garden and only had leaves on the very end because I always feared it would fall either on the garden or on my car. They pruned the catalpa. They pruned the other half of the maple that was remained standing. Parts of the half that fell were rotten by the way. They removed a broken branch on the maple that is on the other side of the house and then proceeded to prune it beautifully. And then, because they finished earlier than expected, they took down the remaining parts of the long dead shag hickory that is down on the corner of our property. We had asked them to but then we thought they might want to finish early so we said they didn’t have to, but they insisted on it.

They were amazing, so good natured, and so willing to listen to our concerns and input. They were out of here by 3:20. So they were here for 6 hours, minus an hour lunch break. They did all that work and cleaned everything up in five hours. There are still some big logs here and the owner is going to come and get them.

Much of this is stuff we’ve known we had to deal with for many years and we always made the choice to postpone it, usually because of available funds, sometimes because I couldn’t bear to see trees cut down or pruned. We had the weeping willow taken down years ago but that was because its roots had invaded our septic system. Our hand was forced when that massive half of the maple fell. Money is still a major issue, but it was well spent. These guys were fabulous and our property and the trees we love so much will be, are, the better for it.

It looks so much better around here. We have some cleanup to do; wood chips in the garden, tread marks in the corral, but really, all my fears were for naught. We would heartily recommend this company to anyone.

And the icing on the cake was totally unexpected. When the guys wanted to back their big truck into the space right by the funky patio, they (and Don) moved the birdbath, the chairs, the planters, etc. next to the house. After they left, Don and began to move everything back. We lugged the heavy base for the birdbath back into position. Then we went back and carried the bath over to the base. I saw something green hanging from it, but I thought it was a leaf. It wasn’t until we got it into position that I noticed what it really was:

It’s a monarch chrysalis! The first one I’ve ever found here on the property; in fact the first one I’ve ever seen in real life. I am absolutely sure I wouldn’t have noticed if if we hadn’t moved the birdbath because I don’t look underneath as a rule and it’s relatively tiny. Was it the caterpillar I saw the other day? Who knows? Anyway, I was so, so thrilled to see it. You can bet I will be observing it daily. What a miracle.

Today is an impossibly beautiful day and we’re going to do some work outside and then we are going to make that little drive to our neighboring town to pick up a couple of books we ordered. We’ll actually walk down some streets!

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Park update. Don has added more blocks and also made a little border for the area by the tree, which will be full of periwinkle come spring. He’s very cute. He transplanted some periwinkle from other parts of the woods to this little plot.

We’re on the lookout for a bench. The best scenario is finding it for free on the side of the road. We’re on a tight budget. Except for adding some stepping stones to the area near the secret garden, we’ve spent exactly zero dollars on all the updates on the property. That’s a good feeling.

I’m writing this on Wednesday evening as we just learned that the tree guys are coming tomorrow. It will be too crazy in the morning; we have to move our cars, I have to trim some of the yarrow as it’s right next to where they’ll be working. As they arrive at 9 am and I have to talk to them before they start, blogging would lose out.

By the way it rained all morning and into the early afternoon. Maybe we’ll get a storm tonight but I hope not. I’d like it to dry out before the trucks arrive tomorrow. It’s as dry as a desert all summer long and the day before they come, it rains. A lot.

Since I wear a lot of black, I guess I could also be classified as one of the people in black on a plane that Orange Man is blathering about. I invariably wear black when I fly – I wonder if he’s referring to my flight to Paris last year?

That makes as much sense as anything else he’s said lately. He’s certifiable.

Hey, let’s play “What are you reading?” I’m reading The Starless Sea  by Erin Morgenstern. Don is reading a book that I read earlier this year, The Lost Pianos of Siberia  by Sophy Roberts.

Stay safe.