Palo Verde Tree, Part 2, almost resolved

the palo verde tree story really gets better. Confirming my belief that as Edward Abbey once said, to paraphrase, "everything in the desert, plant and animal, either sticks, stings, stabs, or stinks." frazzle frazzle, a desert "tree" is down in my driveway split in half and fell on one of my cars, with the other half also top-heavy with overgrown limbs that came outta nowhere somewhere in the night, and about to fall on my neighbor's house.


Alex (Tarah's boyfriend) in action

How true. I've had ear cartilage sliced by a palm tree saw-tooth, which resulted in 6stiches and a tetanus shot; Brindle the dog almost swallowing a huge wad of green, mean-spirited cholla cactus on a remote and unforgiving hike near Martinez Mountain/Santa Rosas; Tarah as a baby getting a handful of tiny tiny needles after touching a "pretty" cactus plant; and my arms gashed from the many times I've lopped back the three jabbing and stabbing palo verdes in my yard. The things grow like weeds and drop big needles. I guess the redeeming features are that they sport beautiful, scented yellow flowers for a brief time in May and June, before the deep heat settles in.

So. the tree fell sometime on Monday night or Sunday morning. In my usual rush-daze, backing the Toyota ("big rippy," the nice car) out of the garage on Monday heading to diverse appointments, I barely squeezed out of the driveway - wow, I knew those branches and limbs had been hanging low for weeks, but I could barely get out, and the car got scratched. Thorns of various sizes - thin newer limbs have small ones that stick to everything this tree touches. The trunk, limned in various giant twisted arms, has giant size thorns! Do any other trees, besides palms, have these mean-spirited weapons on their trunks? Mountains, authentic greenery, cool temps, forests, are sounding better and better. No time to deal with it Monday daytime, and of course with the air temp around 105, no way I'm going to blaze in the sun to cut the branches back.

So, at twilight, my neighbor across the street, catty-corner, came over Monday night to help me lift the fallen tree off my little red spare car, the Nissan ("little zippy," the fun car.) I managed to cut a bunch of branches away, and he lifted the mangled limbs up just so and I pushed zippy out into the street. I also forgot to say that the reason this fun convertible sporty car, a vintage 1989 T-top which isn't in prime shape but is still fun to drive, especially on curvey mountain roads, say, Highway 74 to Idyllwild, has been in the driveway for a few months is because the battery is dead and numerous push-start efforts haven't worked.

So. I got the Nissan parked on the street. And Tuesday, started making phone calls to tree trimmers. Nothing would would till Weds, so....by yesterday, wo tree people who had planned to come didn't quite work out. The one, a loan from my generous neighbor, is delayed until Saturday. The other, who came out yesterday for an estimate, wanted $450, which is kinda out of my price range. So. I sat on it, decided to write some poetry and see what transpired next.

So, yesterday, at 3 pm, I decided it was time to take a break from the computer. Perfect timing. A cop was on the street, parked behind the Nissan. A tow truck in front of the Nissan. The cop says I'm getting a ticket for having a car with expired tags parked on the street - illegal. (ok, I haven't been driving it, so I didn't renew tags yet, because that battery has been dead for a long time...) And, the tow truck was coming. Good god. I managed to talk her out of having it towed, but she said I was still getting a ticket, $50. I promised I'd have to car in the driveway by nightfall. So weird, she said nothing about the fallen tree, the danger to the neighbor's house, the whole oddball, lopsided shenanigan of the situation....I had to explain it and it was like speaking French.


Tarah and Alex, with Alex's camaro in the background

so, instead of paying $450 to have the tree trimming people cut this overgrown desert bush, Tarah and Alex came over. New gloves, a small hand saw, anvil loppers and a large axe, and the three of us went to work. Spongy, wet plant at odd angles with limbs. Halfway cut, they twisted and split, making it even harder to deal with. What a surprise, seeing the two of them taking charge and working so intensely. What a relief, letting them do more of the work than me. Of course, I had to teach Tarah how to swing an axe - overhead -, a skill learned from my firefighting days (of course, I rubbed THAT in, "when I was your age....I was building firelines...") and from having had a woodcutter boyfriend for a few years....going out to split wood with an axe and wedge was fun stuff, and the only way to heat our rural adobe cabin against the suprisingly cold high Mojave desert winters on a tiny woodstove - which I still have, but don't use. I wish I had a big pile of tree stumps in my yard now, because splitting wood is a nice stress release, an art form of precision, a workout, and, as Thoreau said, the act warms a person twice - when splitting the wood, and when burning it.

Hopefully, my neighbor's gardner will show up Saturday morning as planned and haul the mess away. For now, zippy is safe in driveway with a cover to hide the expired plates, and rippy has room to exit, barely, and I've called Palm Desert code compliance to give them the heads up so I don't get some kind of ticket for having a fallen tree, all cut up, in my yard. That's the kinda town I live in.