whispers from wendy ...: it's alive!

Sunday, September 17, 2017

it's alive!

Maybe. I hope.

My beloved mango tree went down. Again. Same as from Hurricane Wilma (which was much stronger if the initial estimates of Irma are to be believed). I have considerably fewer resources available this time, so I decided not to fuck with it myself and called three different landscapers. One immediately answered saying too busy. One didn't answer. And, one answered saying sure! That one delayed me for four days and then told me no.

I was super upset. Angry and sobbing. I did wait until he left, so that was a bonus. Why waste my time and emotional energy if he wasn't going to help? A quick no would have sent me on to find someone else and get closer to the front of the line.

After I had cried myself out, I realized I needed to save the staghorn fern living on it. It's one of the largest specimens I've ever seen. It came from my dad's house when I was a kid. When he moved, he brought it to my house.

I spent most of Friday afternoon hacking away at this fern and making extremely slow progress. I cut six large sections out and barely made a dent. I started to resign myself to losing all the rest. I canceled my workout for Saturday, so I could save more fern.

My fantastic workout partner and good friend said he would come over instead and bring a handsaw. He gave my tree quite the haircut, while I dragged branches away. It had fallen on Marky-Mark, and I was concerned if the crown had broken. As we worked and unburied it, it seemed intact. Mostly. It lost some of its booting and a few fronds, but I think it will live. Yay!!

After a couple hours of trimming the hell out of the tree, we hooked up a chain and a come-a-long and started the slow process of raising it. And by we, I mean he. :) I mostly cleared debris, took photos, fetched supplies, and kept the water coming. That said, I am so sore and exhausted. I took a two hour nap and then slept 8 hours last night.