Tree Surgery

Posted on December 8, 2025 by RegenAxe

“Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard you are wanted in surgery”, tree surgery that is. This is the premise of a 1941 Three Stooges movie, Some More of Samoa, where Moe, Larry, and Curly are hired as Elite Painless Tree Surgeons to find a mate for a rare pucker-less persimmon tree, leading them to the tropical island of Rhum Boogie. It involves comical hijinks with natives and an alligator. Anyway, I was thinking along these lines, when this afternoon, Sirus XM sampled this movie.

Earlier today Davey tree service returned. This was their third visit. They did some emergency cutting on our elm last month. Now that it is cold, they are back. The cold keeps the insects away. who spread Dutch Elm disease. They were here last week, but that crew never even got setup. They threw up their hands and called it quits, before they had even begun. They felt that it was impossible to get their truck in there. Well, today’s crew made it happen. I’d say that they made it look easy, except they worked hard all day.

Pictured is our neighbor’s driveway. Years ago, in our driveway a similar tree cutting expedition met an unfortunate fate. It was muddier then and when they backed up their bucket truck, they made a mess of our driveway. The neighbor pointed out at the time; tree trimmers carry excellent insurance. They ended up replacing 30′ of our driveway’s pavers. Today’s crew seem more competent than that one was, but there is a wrinkle. Today’s truck drove over some of our PVC sewer. Hopefully without crushing it, because that’s what the Stooges would do.

UPDATE: They did not finish today. They will be back tomorrow, minus the cherry-picker. Tomorrow, they play Tarzan.

Tax the Rich!

Posted on December 2, 2025 by RegenAxe

Just not me! We got a property tax bill for my father’s house. It had jumped by three times what it had been. It will be due in January. What do rich people do when they are faced with a situation like this? We engaged a lawyer. I don’t really understand our strategy, but that is what the lawyer is for. Anyway, this approach dovetails nicely with what our realtor had recommended that is to simply delay, deny and dismiss. Hopefully, long enough to sell the house.

Burned-out Autumn Blaze

Posted on November 24, 2025 by RegenAxe

Last week, when we left for Michigan, our Red Maple was like a fiery torch. Fully clothed in its red leaves, it was like an autumn blaze. When we returned on Saturday, it was practically naked, its leaves had all fallen to the ground and lay there like last week’s scattered confetti. The party’s over. I should get the rake out now, or maybe later. These leaves are not going anywhere, at least until Wednesday. So, why rush into anything now.

Trick ‘r Treat

Posted on November 1, 2025 by RegenAxe

Gracie and Ethan at St. Peters in the Vatican

Let’s get the body count part out of the way first. Last night, we had about a dozen trick ‘r treaters. As is our habit of late, we spent Halloween in our next-door neighbor’s driveway. Art and Caroline dragged out chairs and a firepit, which we all sat around and waited for the trick-or-treaters to arrive, and waited and waited. Starting at five, an hour before sundown didn’t help but eventually, they came. We passed the time in conversation. While we were out-of-town this summer, they did a family European vacation. Pictured are their two children in St. Peters. Their kids are both away at college now, leaving Art and Caroline with an empty nest. Good neighbors are a blessing.

Arboreal Activities

Posted on October 30, 2025 by RegenAxe

Last May, while we were still in California, a tornado struck Saint Louis. Its path came to within a quarter mile of our home. While initially it appeared that little damage had occurred to our house, further investigation discovered that one of our few remaining trees had lost a branch. A hanger was left suspended up high in this elm.

Earlier this week, Anne was sitting on the couch, when she heard the distinct who-cooks-for-you call of a Barred owl. Venturing outdoors, we determined that the calling owl was perched in our next-door neighbor’s Redbud. We haven’t heard it since, but hopefully it will return.

Jungle No More

Posted on October 1, 2025 by RegenAxe

Yesterday, Araldo, our gardener cleared out the jungle that had grown all summer long in the backyard. He filled fifteen large yard waste bags. While we were gone for the past six months, vine weed had taken over. You can see how dry it is here. Putting down mulch should help keep the weeds from returning. The night before Araldo came, Anne spied a raccoon atop the garage roof.

The desktop computer’s monitor finally died. None of my tricks managed to revive it. So, I trooped over to the Micro Center. Walking through the sliding glass doors, I heard the guy following me in announce that this was his happy place. I walked out with a new flat screen. Later, I went back and dropped off the old monitor for recycling. This acquisition at least put a band aid on one my three computers. I have had less luck replacing my iPhone. On my last visit to the AT&T store I spoke to a representative and was all set to buy a new phone, but they were out of stock. They wanted to drop ship the new phone to our house, but since it is on backorder, it would likely show up while we were out-of-town. Not wanting that, I cancelled my order. Later, I thought of having them deliver my iPhone to the store, but by then my ardor had cooled.

OBTW, that is Dan’s Mt. Everest sculpture on the side of the garage.