Day 799 (Daily Post)

Day 799. It is not quite as cold this morning as it has been lately which is a nice change so you can imagine my surprise when I looked at the weather this morning and saw a 'special weather statement' that there might be one to two inches of snow at some point throughout the day or night.

Over the last few days all the pear trees have blossomed and I was starting to feel a wee bit hopeful that what happened last year would not repeat itself this year with them blossoming then getting destroyed by a late hard freeze. I guess it is in nature's hands at this point and whatever will be will undoubtedly be but damn it I was really looking forward to a good pear 'crop' this year. They are after all what some folks call 'pears gone wild' but I have done a good bit of work the last few years pruning the trees, removing the vines from them and generally doing whatever I can to help them out. None of the apple trees have blossomed yet so perhaps they will emerge from the Spring unscathed by any late freezing but it is really still too early to know that for sure one way or another.

On a different note I am rather interested to see how the fungi and flora do this year in general because of how saturated the ground is with water. It has been one hell of a wet last six months so there is a good chance that both the fungi and flora will thrive over the next several months. The only real downside that I can see with that scenario is that I am going to wind up doing a lot more mowing and weed-eating than I have had to do in the past and although I don't mind putting in the time to do those tasks it does mean that I will need to be prepared to purchase more weed-eater line, two cycle oil and gasoline than I have needed previously. It is what it is in that regard but it sure makes me long for the day that I can afford battery operated lawn tools that I can charge with my solar panels. Like most things it is not like I don't know there are better solutions (in this case better than using gas powered devices) but being able to actually afford those solutions is woefully out of reach so I muddle along and hope that one day I can apply the solutions.

As I have mentioned before I only use perhaps ten gallons of gas a year and perhaps two or three quarts of oil and while it may be a marginal amount compared to what most folks consume I am not inclined to feeling good about my own consumption of the stuff until I reach the beautiful (guiltless) number of zero gallons per year. It is nice to have goals and nice to know I am close to reaching that particular goal but damn I want to fucking reach it and be done with the gasoline altogether! I am not big on promoting brands but for folks interested in battery operated lawn tools I would recommend looking at what DeWalt offers with chainsaws, weed-eaters and lawnmowers and while there might be cheaper alternatives on the market the old adage about 'getting what you pay for' comes to mind.

Anyway all that jazz aside I am feeling pretty stoked about my impending birthday coming up in eight more days and looking forward to celebrating another year of making the long trip around that exploding ball of fire in the sky that we affectionately call the sun. For some folks making that trip does not amount to much but for me I always feel pretty damn excited because after all the hardships, challenges and turmoil of my life it's absolutely fucking amazing to me that I am still not just alive and kicking but I still have a sense of wonder, curiosity and excitement about life that I would not trade for anything. Have a great day/night and I will undoubtedly do the same.