End of the Ficus, Part III

  Looking back through all the pictures of the house that I've taken, I realized that I never got a picture of the ficus in all its full sized glory, except as a bare-branched shadow of its former self after the first freeze.  I have pictures of the back yard, where you can see the ficus, but none do it justice.  It just soared over the yard.  The canopy was so thick, we had trouble growing grass beneath it.  We even selected plants that required shade to plant against the porch because they received no direct sun.  

  Teresa started the second day about the same time as the first.  Unlike the first day, the second day was clear and sunny.  And while there was the barest of hints that summer was thinking about ending, it was going to be brutally hot before they were finished.  The majority of the shade in the back yard used come from the ficus, and that was still lying on the ground waiting to be hauled away.  

 This time she brought help, muscle in the form of a 24-year old kid named Sean.  He was bright, intelligent and really hard working.  He went right to work without being told what to do, while Teresa went back to work trying to figure out how to bring down the last two limbs.  The problem was they were too weak to bear any weight.  She couldn't safely put up her ladder to cut the limb in half and bring it down in pieces.   So they decided to pull them down.

  Ficus wood, when dry, is not very heavy, or very strong.   They looped a line over the limb and picked a direction. The lightest of tugs on the line made the brach wobble and dance. Then they pulled, hard.  I think that was when my heart stopped.  Edward caught his breath. There was nothing to do but watch.

  The limb snapped and started toward the house... and missed by no more then six inches!  It clipped the bougainvillea under the back window, scraping the bark, but doing no real damage to the bush.  That's how I know it was that close.  I think the house gods were looking out for us, both Sunday and Wednesday.  I'm thankful.  Once again, the house escaped damage.  The limb that posed the most danger to the house was down.  

  One more to go.  This limb leaned over the chainlink fence.  They had to do the same thing, pull it down, but at least it was being pulled away from the house, this time.  They looped the rope over the last limb, tightened it up and pulled from the park side of the fence.  It snapped, sooner then expected.  And while I only saw it from the corner of my eye, there was an "oh, s**t" moment as Sean turned an ran from the oncoming branch.  It bounced off the fence and shattered into five or more pieces. 

  And that was it.  The threat to the house was over.  The last of the tall limbs were down.  The rest was clean up.

  Teresa took the stump down in pieces.  The first cut revealed the true nature of the ficus.  That it was, in fact, many trees all grown together.  When I planted it, it had been a house plant with many tiny saplings all in one pot.  Over the years they had grown into one massive trunk.  The freezes, it turned out, had killed 90% of those trunks, leaving only a thin sheath of live wood that wrapped just under half way around the base.  When it fell, that living wood flexed but didn't break.  In the wild, Edward and I figure it would have re-rooted, and started over, growing from where it had come to rest.   Before Teresa started cutting it up, the leaves had not even started to wilt.  It was still alive at that point, and that makes me sad.

    It took another hour to load the wood from the ficus onto the trailer they'd brought.  I saved a few logs, some long dead and dry, one from the living wood.  I'll give them time to fully cure.  Maybe one day I'll make something out of them, like the box I made from from Sandy's log.  I'd like to do that.  It will be something to remind me of that once glorious tree.  

    On that low, lonely stump in the back yard, the sap is still running from the live wood.  We're not going to get the stump ground, not yet anyway.  There is a small chance it will put out a shoot, and some part of it will survive.  A small chance that we'll get some part of our ficus back.  Maybe this time, we'll manage it better, and not let it get so big.

  End of the Ficus, Part I

End of the Ficus, Part II

  End of the Ficus, Part III

End of the Ficus, Part I

  When we bought the house, we planted a number of trees and, in one case, two house plants, in the yard.  Those houseplants were ficus trees.  A tropical plant better suited for indoors, even in central Florida, where occasional freezes can kill them.  So when we had a hard freeze in February a few years after we moved in, one of the ficus survived, the other didn't.

  The one that did survive grew into a monster.  It was more than 20 feet high, and more than 30 feet in spread of its canopy.  It hung over the porch as well as the ditch and provided a deep, cool shade for the back of the house.  It had a lovely green canopy and long stringers that hung below the trucks.  I loved that tree.

  Three winters ago we had another hard freeze.  There was nothing we could do but watch.  The ficus was simply too big to protect.  In the days following the freeze it dropped all it's leaves.  It wasn't until the next May that we saw signs of life, with green shoots poking out from the trunk.  We called a tree service and had it trimmed back, hopeful that it would survive.  Chances looked good at that point that it could recover.  

  Two winters ago, we had another hard freeze.  All the new growth from the previous summer was gone.  It proved to be too much.  Only a small portion of the tree survived this time.  As spring warmed to summer, new leaves appeared, but only on the side towards the house.  The rest of the tree was dead.

  Two woodpeckers took up residence in the dead trunks.  One, a red-bellied woodpecker, never did find a mate to share his work.  A second, a downy, carved a hole and raised at least one chick.  

  This summer has been the wettest ever recorded in Florida.  Two tropical storms dumped 9 inches of rain more then the average. When Tropical Storm Debby hung out for three days, one of the dead limbs came down, water logged and heavy.  It fell towards the park, causing no damage.  Tropical Storm, soon to become Hurricane, Isaac also dumped a large amount of rain on the area.  All that dry and rotting wood no doubt soaked it all in.

 That must have finally been too much for the ficus.  As we were starting dinner on Sunday, we both heard and saw it land.  All of the living wood from the tree crashed into the back yard leaving only the dead wood standing.  Incredibly, it fell in the only place if could have fallen in the yard and not done any damage.  It missed the porch by three feet, missed the birdbath by two.  It missed the guy-wires for the power pole in the back yard.  It even missed Jasmine's statue.  It did land on the juniper bush, but I think that will survive.

  We had a tree company out the next day and she gave us a reasonable estimate.  She'll take the whole thing down, but not grind the stump.  Most of the dead roots are already rotted and soft.  It won't take Mother Nature long to claim back the spot.  We'll have to decide if we want to put anything in it's place.   We're going to get a lot more sun on the porch and through the sliding glass.  It would be nice to have a little shade back there.  We'll see.

  And in the mean time, we can watch the sky and the thunderstorm and the rain again.  That's something we haven't been able to do since the ficus grew large enough to shade the house.  And who knows, if there is still some life left in the stump perhaps it will send out new shoots.  Perhaps, like a phoenix it will grow from its own "ashes", consume it's old stump and rise again.  Perhaps we'll see shade from it again.  And if not, it was meant to be.  Mother Nature takes care of her own.  She gave us a magnificent tree, and in the end brought her down safely.  For that, I will be forever thankful.  

End of the Ficus, Part II

Storm Watch...

Thunderheads after Hurricane Ike, 

September 15, 2008

  Tropical Storm Isaac.  He won't be so for long.  If the models are right, he'll leave his tour of the northern Cuban coastline, head out into the Gulf and put on a little "weight", in the form of higher winds.  

  By the time he reaches a level latitude with Tampa, he'll be a strong Category 1, heading north.  I am glad he will be offshore.  But it brings back memories of another storm we watched approach along a similar track.  

  Hurricane Charlie.  

  In 2004, we watched Hurricane Charlie approach the bay area.  He crossed Cuba as a category 1 storm and was predicted to run straight north into Tampa Bay.  While a Category 1 storm is nothing to take lightly, it was not too concerning for us.  In the day before he crossed into the Gulf, we made our preparations.  He was not predicted to get much stronger.  We made ice, put away the outside items and covered the windows in a hurricane film that was supposed to keep the windows from breaking completely out if something struck them.  

  We got up on the morning of Aug 13th confident we were ready.  Little did we know what mother nature had in store for us and Charlie that day.

  Charlie turned out to be an unpredictable storm.  What's more, he exhibited a behavior that scientists at the National Hurricane Center still struggle to explain.  Explosive intensification.  In 48 hours Charlie, a weak Category 1, became a monstrous Category 4 headed straight for Tampa.  We were anything but prepared for what was headed our way.  In the end it was only that same unpredictable nature of Charlie that save our skins when he took a turn to the right and made landfall well south of us.  He made landfall within the predicted zone of impact, the infamous cone of uncertainty.  He is the poster child for why you should not focus on the center line and prepare no matter where you are in the cone.   I would expand that to areas near the cone as well.  Models aren't perfect. 

  So now as we sit, watching Isaac work his way though the Caribbean, and across Cuba, my mind wanders back to Charlie.  In hindsight, we were woefully unprepared for what Charlie would have brought to our area.  Our paltry preparations would have not stood much of a chance again the winds Charlie brought ashore.  We got lucky.  

  All the models predict Isaac will continue on his path north.  We are barely out of the track's cone.  But that doesn't mean I'll let my guard down.  I won't relax until he's at least even with Tampa on his trip north.  And even then the story is not over.  Isaac is taking aim on Atlanta, and DragonCon, where we'll spend Labor Day weekend. 

 It seems that we are destined to be under Isaac's influence, not once but twice.    

Happiness is...

  A warm friend to sleep on.

Why did the turtle cross the road?

    Florida Soft Shell Turtle, NASA KSC, May 2010

  Why did the turtle cross the road?  Beats me.  But for this turtle, it wasn't a very bright thing to do.

  I was driving home from work Friday evening having just passed the veterans hospital when I noticed something sitting on the very left edge of the lane against the median.  As I got closer I realized it was a turtle, as I passed I saw it flinch.  The turtle was alive!  And it didn't look like it had been hit... yet.

  I was in the middle of 6 lanes of traffic (3 in each direction).  There really wasn't anywhere to stop safely.  Do I go back?  Where will I stop?  The poor thing must be terrified.    

  I realized I was going to try to save this guy when I finally reached a place where I could think about turning around and somewhat subconsciously started changing lanes to go back, probably a three quarters of a mile down the road.  I had a big comforter in the back of my car (my car blanket for picnics or other impromptu uses).  Maybe I could help if I could catch it.

  As I got back to where I thought the turtle was, I realized I could see it making a dash across the road.  To my horror traffic had started down the road again from the light,  There were three lanes of traffic bearing down on the turtle and it was in the middle of the center lane.  There was no way it was going to make it.  The median at this point was wide, flat and concrete.  The curbing was sloped to allow you to drive up on it in case of a breakdown.   I pulled over on to the median and got out, not knowing if I was there to help, or if I would watch someone clip the turtle before it could make it to safety.

  To my amazement, I watched about a dozen cars pass directly over the turtle.  As the first car got to it, it dropped down into its shell.  Dare I hope it will survive?  If no one tries to change lanes, maybe, just maybe it would make it.  No one changed lanes.  No one even had to swerve to avoid it.  After most of the cars passed it jumped up and scurried (well, scurried for a turtle) back toward the median.  I only had to wave down one car.  He (or She) had made it back to the median.  

  I threw the blanket over the turtle and waved the last car past.  Now what?  I thought it was a snapping turtle.  Snappers can take a finger off if you give them a chance.  Save the turtle of not, I wasn't wiling to loose a finger over it.  I tried to flip the turtle, blanket and all, onto its back with my foot.  On its back, I figured I could wrap it up in the blanket.  No good.  He wanted no part of that.  So I uncovered the turtle, and spread the blanket in front of it, then I tried to persuade him onto the blanket with my foot.  At first he wouldn't budge.  I should have realized at that point it wasn't a Snapper, he had a soft shell and a short tail.  After a few nudges, he decided that crossing the blanket might be an escape and he made a dash for it.  Quick as I could, I tossed the edges of the blanket over the turtle, then grabbed the corners and lifted.  I had him.

  Now what?

  I considered taking him back the way I thought he'd had come.  Across 3 lanes of traffic.  I decided against that.  First, because that meant I was crossing 3 lanes of traffic and second, he might decide to try it again after I was gone.  OK, buddy, you're coming with me.   

  I put the turtle, wrapped in the blanket, into the front of my car, tucked him in and off we went.  We live next to the second largest park in the county.  Our house is well away from any busy roads.  This should be perfect.  But it was about 6 miles to the house.  About halfway home I saw the blanket start to move.  Oh no, you're not coming out yet.  So I kept poking the blanket to keep him in his shell.  

  When I got home I stopped in the driveway.  I figure if he'd gotten loose of the blanket, it would be better to have him flop out of the car in the driveway, rather then in the garage.  Edward wandered out wondering if there was something wrong with the door.  Nope.  I've got a turtle.  A big one.  

  We walked the turtle out to the back yard and Edward opened the gate.  I set him down on the top of the ditch and spread out the blanket.  He was a Florida soft shelled turtle.  He had to have weighed 15 pounds or more.  He was probably 18 inches from nose to tail and about 12 inches wide.  After about 15 seconds he poked his head out of his shell and looked around.  There weren't any cars here, but now there were two people, no just one.  After a couple of minutes he got up, climbed off the blanket and started down the ditch.  Shortly there after he took a right turn, headed down the embankment and splashed into the water.  He had "escaped".  

  I watched him for a few more minutes.  After resting a moment, he started moving down the ditch.  Mostly I could track him by the sound of crunching grasses and seeing tumbling reeds he knocked down as he passed.  After a few minutes I left him to his new home.  I hope he likes the park.  I know one thing for sure, he won't have any cars to deal with for a long time.  

  For myself, I can rest in knowing I helped, and maybe saved a life, no matter how small.  In that, I find peace.  And that is good enough for me.

Dear Helen

  Dear Helen.

  I'm the person you met in Jarred this past Saturday, the person you gave your discount coupon to when you didn't use it.   I just wanted to let you know that we used it to purchase a pair of emerald earrings thanks to your thoughtfulness.  They were an early birthday present for me from my husband, Edward.  I've always wanted a pair of emeralds.

  I wanted to let you know that you made my day.  Your gift to me, a total stranger, will also make the rest of my month.  And when my birthday actually comes, I'll remember your kindness with a smile.  It'll be the best 50th birthday present ever.  

  Thank you.