Iced in
Another ice storm. When I shut the chickens in at night, the tall grass is bent over with each blade covered in a sheath of ice; makes for a curious effect in the low winter sunlight.
The animals hate it. The cats complain as they go out, as if it's my fault, and the sheep gaze longingly at the house as though I might stroll out and make it all go away.
I've spent the week pruning apple trees with my son. He's not old enough to hand me tools, but he follows orders when I tell him to get to safety before I drop a limb. He is apparently as concerned for my safety as I am for his. While I was up in a tree, he asked his grandmother whether I could get down by myself. Apparently he'd been read a book about a cat being stuck in a tree and worried I might share the fate.
Pruning is one of my favorite things, especially old trees that have been neglected. Each one has its own logic and story and ailments, the reason it has grown its particular way. None of these stories are incredibly interesting, of course, but reading them requires a sort of patient observation that is very relaxing. And that's the other nice thing about trees. There's no rush.
The animals hate it. The cats complain as they go out, as if it's my fault, and the sheep gaze longingly at the house as though I might stroll out and make it all go away.
I've spent the week pruning apple trees with my son. He's not old enough to hand me tools, but he follows orders when I tell him to get to safety before I drop a limb. He is apparently as concerned for my safety as I am for his. While I was up in a tree, he asked his grandmother whether I could get down by myself. Apparently he'd been read a book about a cat being stuck in a tree and worried I might share the fate.
Pruning is one of my favorite things, especially old trees that have been neglected. Each one has its own logic and story and ailments, the reason it has grown its particular way. None of these stories are incredibly interesting, of course, but reading them requires a sort of patient observation that is very relaxing. And that's the other nice thing about trees. There's no rush.