(no subject)

I figured out something last night. When I'm stressed, I can't stay with a project. It's not the same lack of focus that I get when i'm PMSing. When I'm PMSing, I have a burst of creative energy that's just more than I can funnel into one thing, and I'm learning to ride that wave and channel it into things I CAN finish in a reasonable amount of time. Last night's lack of focus was listless and disinterested.

( Bits of last night's drama, and musing about word choices )

Whew!

That was too much hard work for a Saturday.

Just finished digging up the remains of the root balls on four trees that I'm going to be replacing next week. Not big trees, just 2" caliper. But I had to get the wire basket that supports the roots in transit out of the ground, and I had to do that with a shovel, 'cuz I also needed to find the drip irrigation and pull it out of the way.

Never did find the drip on the last tree. Dug a hole too wide for me to step across (about 4 1/2 feet), and almost 3 feet deep, but no sign of the drip tubes. I'm powerful confused.

Did figure out why that particular tree (a 2" caliper, low-branching flowering dogwood) died this summer. One, if the drip is in fact not there, it was not on my watering route, and was too dry this summer. Two, the top of the root ball was almost 12" below grade. This is really bad if you're a tree. Three, the tree had last been in a heavy red clay (last nursery to grow it before transplanting it to our tree trail), and that's death on flowering dogwoods. Probably why we only have one of those left, out of the three planted out there.