Trees are determined, will not be denied.

 

 Old silos, repurposed by trees

Australia 

                 sad piano

 

                     somewhere in Spain 

 

who knows? 

 

Brick vs. tree? 

Nothing ever stays the same.

 

When we moved here to sunny desert San Diego County from lush green rainy Ireland, we chose a city that was more rural than city.   With cows grazing in fields, orange groves, and huge gardens that sold produce in road-side stands, we loved it.  The hills around us were covered with rocky outcrops with patches of manzanita and sage. 

What a pleasure to be outside, whereas Ireland wasn't really a walk-about with rain.  Wind from the west sent the smell of cows (and manure) our way. The north wind gave us eucalyptus.  From the south came the sweet citrus orange blossoms.  The eastern winds from San Jacinto Mountains and deserts gave me a migraine.

That was nearly 25 years ago, and life in California changes at a rapid pace.

On the hills we now see expensive homes with a superior view.  The rocks are still there, but for how long?  Until another housing developer blasts them away?

These were  boulders on a hill near our then house. We claimed them as our own.

The cows grazed on mighty expensive land, it turned out.  Those lovely black and white cows were moved out and a new high school moved in with parking lots.

The brittle eucalyptus trees grow at an alarming rate.  We had four and had to remove them; they were a danger to houses around us.  Brought here by Spanish padres from Australia, those trees took over the state.  Not a source of lumber since the trees shattered and burned easily, the trees are being removed which is a good thing.

Orange groves once covered large parts of southern California.  Once a heavenly-scented place to live, the groves are gone with houses in their place.  The grove to the south of us sat for years on a big corner lot.  Ignored, oranges dropped and rotted on the ground.  Without water, the trees were gnarled dwarfs.  

Yesterday, on a drive to the store in that area, I was shocked to see the trees bulldozed into a pile in the middle.  The lot was valuable and had been sold. 

So, the only thing that remains is the Santa Ana wind from the east. Right now, these winds are fanning the fire around Los Angeles.

These, unfortunately, will always blow through my head, giving me a migraine.

The photos comes from the following sites:

 Gettyimages.com 

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/40275361  by Cyborg

http://freepages.family.

 

 

Christmas of our past

Our own "Monkey Ward" book; we wore that thing out.  We kept it up into February when it was shredded. Are there are Wards fans out there?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These gems are from "Google Images vintage 1950s Christmas photos", Pinterest, and many other great sites.

Trees have the right of way.

 Trees are patient.  Trees go and grow wherever there is food, water, and light. Trees do not care what year, decade, century or millennia it is. 
 

The rainbow eucalyptus trees are exotic, grow in warm climates. They are real!

 

v

 

..

 Trees have right-of-way. Do not stand in one place for too long.  Just saying.

 

                                             pinterest

 

 The Methuselah Tree is considered to be the oldest tree on the planet a 5,000 year old bristlecone tree. Methuselah Tree, oldest tree

We plan to see National Parks over the next years. Trees are amazing.

Trees are impossible to describe accurately. Amazing, works as well as anything.

A Tree Grows in a Forest

Art comes and is done in all mediums. Some we can approach, experiment with, and enjoy. But ones done in wood are beyond my comprehension. Those below are done by incredibly talented people.

Gabi Rizea

  

Not much else to say about these creations. Just sharing some things of beauty, to raise our eyes to nature.

Check this site out.  PInterest, a place of beauty.

Christmas Now! Then!

A tree in our old neighborhood. For 11 months of the year if was ugly, but at Christmas?
It was stunning.

You might think that this post is a tad premature, but there is a reason: I want to celebrate Christ's birth, listen to music, decorate with every bulb and garland I can find, and remember every Christmas possible. Christmas cannot wait and neither can I.

Taken from our Chicago hotel room
after my son's wedding

Waiting for Christmas is and has always been the most intense, insane experience of anticipation of all the year. 

Standing in front of the tree and being mesmerized by the lights is the disco ball of the season. Then there was the dancing around the tree. Shaking the presents and guessing their contents is always be part of the game.  The small train around the base wears itself out by the Big Day, only too happy to be packed away for next year’s new batteries and another chance to whistle.

(That was a few years ago, going into the sixth decade of life. Then my granddaughters informed me then that I have to move away from the tree.  It was their time to do the dancing.)

Moving ahead some years and I would be found with the other delights: baking some, fixing meals, cuddling a baby, and moving furniture around to accommodate our grandsons BJ and Jim. (then almost 1 year old baby brother).

BJ 5th birthday, June 26, 2017

Jim at 6 months, June 22, 2017

I was waiting for Christmas, slightly removed from the tree’s perimeter to allow tween girls and a five year-old in pajamas to enter into the thrall of the tree. And now there will only be two girls in their teens. Sweet wonderful girls who are Irish dancers will be there.Christmas starts as a spark of joy, and then fills me all up.  Christmas is here!  Christ came into the world as a human, to experience the human pain and suffering.  Christ was crucified, resurrected, and ascended into heaven.   Christ dwells within me daily, reminding me that I am part of His family. 
This year I will think about those boys in their own home, dancing around their tree. 

In a running park 

This a repost of 2010.  I liked it, and juggled some words about to post it again in 2017. Now, here in 2019, I post it again.

Why is this post going up in early November, you may ask.  Christmas 2016 my husband's family went on a cruise because Mom Kane had died in February and none of us wanted to be home, without her.

It wasn't Christmas for any of us, we acknowledged it then and now.  Now, each year since 2016 we gather in one home or another and talk about times with Mom and Dad, and the joy they brought to Christmas.

This year, 2019 my husband and I will dance up a storm around the tree with our teenage granddaughters, laughing about all the other dances of the past. WE will stop our dancing after a few minutes while they carry away the night.

YouTube: Flash Mob, 2010

Merry Christmas!

Make Way for Trees

Trees are patient.  Trees go and grow wherever there is food, water, and light. Trees do not care what year, decade, century or millennia it is. 

Rainbow Eucalyptus

Roots can put on bark...

The Dark Hedges in Northern Ireland

 Trees have right-of-way. Do not stand in one place for too long.  Just saying.

Life Within

What grows around us....

Death, where is thy sting?

Encases us....

Life grows in and through

and grows from within....

Life keeps going.

So we can live large.

What IS this?

Look at these photos...all are of trees.  What do you think when you see them?

How does this grow?

Where is this?

Can you tell what kind of tree?

How long will this tree hang on?

There Go I

Source

On Christmas Day these events I observed:

A lone man shivering and looking at his feet while waiting for a bus

Source

Cold rain falling on an overloaded pick-up truck as it moved belongings from one abode to another

Source

The sound of an ambulance coming from a near-by assisted living complex

Christmas tree lot with many unsold trees, all unattended

Add caption

A single car parked at McDonalds

On the freeway, a car with a flat tire and a woman with children inside waiting for the tow truck

On Christmas Day these events I experienced:

My granddaughters in their pajamas, opening gifts, squealing with delight

My grandson (six months old) sitting in my lap, chewing on his favorite finger

Laughter from my family

Safety

Warmth

Food

Holding my husband’s hand

But for a twist of chance or fortune, I/we could have been in the first list.  In fact, we have been on that list at one time or another.  What about you?  What did you see on Christmas Day?  Have you ever been in one of those spots?