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May Update

After battling a failed respiratory system for four months in the hospital, my 23-year-old son, Justin, died last night.  Last week, he was driving the hospital bean-counters and back-office people crazy by having way too much fun in the hospital.  He was playing video games, watching sports and crime shows on tv, and ordering Uber Eats.  Then Saturday afternoon, he went code blue with rapid changes in oxygen level, heart rate and blood pressure.   With modern medicine, drugs and technology, hospital staff stabilized his numbers, but Justin became quite uncomfortable and agitated.  His last words were, "Will it ever end?"   Allie flew home on Sunday night, and her presence in the hospital room on Monday brought a final, brief smile to Justin's lips.  He passed later that night.   I'm proud of my son for his lifetime willingness to fight for a life that was in many ways fuller than most able-bodied people.  In return, he made our lives richer and fuller.   After a time
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If a Tree Falls in the Forest

I've been training hard during the last couple of weeks with my new pickleball partner for Wisconsin's largest pickleball tournament, taking place this weekend.  After that, I'll be ready for a "pickleball break."  

 

Thursday night Round Robin

Julia and I made reservations at one of our favorite COE campgrounds on the Mississippi River next week, where we can now take advantage of 50% off with the Senior Pass ($10/night) with electric. 

This morning, after taking Callie on a four mile hike in the country, I saw something very disturbing up near my Scamp.

Close Call

We had been experiencing a severe drought, and then over four inches of rain dumped on Wednesday and Thursday night.  The branches and leaves of the trees eagerly soaked up the moisture, causing severe stress for the now top-heavy oak. The trunk snapped and landed about two feet from the tongue of the Scamp 


It took about three hours today to cut up the part of the tree that blocked access to the Scamp,, move the rounds to my firewood processing area, and drag the small branches back into the woods.  On a hot and humid day, I may have set a perspiration record.  There is another twenty or thirty feet of uncut trunk going back into the woods.  It will make quality firewood but will wait until a cooler day. 

I ended up moving vehicles around and put the Scamp in our driveway until our camping departure.  There is another double trunk tree nearby (to the right side of the photo above, and it has a severe bend without breaking yet.  It'll be interesting to see if it's still standing when we return from our trip.  The  trunks are under far too much pressure from the wet branches to safely fell at this point. 

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MFH said…
Wow! How bizarre! I'd never imagined trees taking up enough water to bend them. Was the one that broke alive?
July 16, 2023 at 3:56 PM
John said…
Yes, fully alive with all of its (saturated) leaves). That land is on a steep hill. Usually if a tree falls, it comes up by its root ball. Not this time.
July 16, 2023 at 4:56 PM
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