Saturday, September 7, 2024

 Saturday, September 7, 2024 

    I delayed getting out there to do what I thought I had to do to get those haole koa trees cut down on the fence line and the trees the used car salesman rock wall builder left up, knowing it would bother me.  He told me he couldn't take them down because it would damage my fence. "How about a $30,000 rock wall replacement?" He'd be happy to do that for me.  I come to find out this sleaze is a pastor at the open-air church on Palani.   His vibes are worse than those at the skin care place that conned me out of a large sum of money. 

   I needed to get to those offending trees from my neighbor's side because I couldn't reach them from mine- just a bit out of reach.  I needed to walk down to the bottom of their property over the freshly overturned soil to get them. I had two fears: first, I feared falling on the uneven terrain.  I feared injuring myself and lying there without anyone knowing where I was.  It was an open field. If I was conscious, someone would hear me call. The fear of being helpless wasn't realistic. The fear of injuring myself was. I tried it.

   I started out on the side of the property where the trees were. I walked cautiously.  It went well until I hit a sharp decent. I looked for another route. It was rock strewn. I gave up. I would need a walking stick and closed shoes instead of the thonged slippers I wear for my bum toe. I gave up on that plan of attack.  Oh, the second concern. I would be caught trespassing on my neighbor's property.  I had no business there without the owner's permission, mainly since I intended to cut down trees on her property.  Mind you, every other tree on that property had been cut down. The only remaining ones were on my fence line. An act of petty vengeance on the part of the used- car salesman/contractor.

     Instead, I walked down my driveway, intending to do what I could with the trees on my side of the fence at the bottom of the property. I was distracted by flowering haole koas lining the driveway. Before I ever got to the target trees, I filled a barrel with haole koa green waste.

   I passed the Schefflera Dan had cut down, and we had tried to kill the trunk. I had been down there several times to pull off new shoots. The tree trunks were bare on my side of the fence. Wow! The treatment worked.  I texted Peter to tell him to take care of the one on his side of the fence.

   I did get there and cut down the ones I could with my 6" Eco chain saw.  I got to at least a dozen. These trees were about 20" tall.  As they fell, they braced each other. Separating them was up there with a game of pick-up sticks.  I had to dislodge one to let another fall.  Then I got my chainsaw stuck in a tree.  The tree fell toward the cut instead of away from it.  I didn't have the leverage or the strength to lift the tree off the saw blade. 

   By then, I had a full barrel of haole koa green waste. I texted Nina to ask if I could come over to deliver what I had. She said it was a good time. I drove over there.  They joined me this afternoon for our weekly game of Sorry and conversation.  I asked Dean if he could help me free my saw.  He's over six feet, young enough to be my son, and exceptionally strong.  I figured it would be a piece of cake for him.  However, I was concerned he wouldn't say no if he didn't want to do it.  I told him to take care to respect himself. I had two other options.  

   Joseph came home from his hike with a friend. I asked him if he could help me free my saw. He was game.  He tried to deepen the bend in the tree. I think he hoped he could snap the trunk. It was too thick for that; that's why I used the saw. He pushed the tree in the opposite direction and freed the saw. My hero!

   I was scheduled to have a session with the fifth-grade Twins this morning. I texted Mama K, telling her I had sent the Zoom link. There was no response. I called. Twin E answered the phone. Phone etiquette is not her thing. I had to pull information out of her. I asked why she answered the phone instead of her mom. She said something I didn't understand. I finally got that Mama K was sad.  Why is she sad?" Because her cat died. "How did she die?" It got run over. Well, that ended any chance of working with the Twins today. I sent Mama K a condolence text. I know what it means to lose a beloved pet.

    I worked on the updates and other gardening activities and watched Scrublands on Amazon.  It is very well done.  There are occasional scenes of violence, but I found them bearable.  It's a great mystery. You know 'who did it' in the beginning, but the 'it' of it is more complicated than meets the eye. 

    Dean and Nina came over for our Saturday Sorry session. Dean won the game today. Nina hadn't eaten her ice cream before she came, but when she does, she always wins. 

    We talked about the haole koas I was taking down. I told them of my adventure on the property next door, trying to reach the bottom to reach the remaining trees. Dean proposed he do it. He easily walked down along the fence line on my side of the property. The sharp decline that intimidated me was no problem for him. He snapped most of the trees. Snapping weakens the tree more than a clean cut with the saw.  Dean needed a saw for one of the trees because the trunk was too thick even for him.  He didn't want to use my power chain saw. Did I have a hand saw?  I did, and it was easily accessible.  I had a curved hand saw.  He thought it was perfect.  He took down most of the trees, leaving a stand on my property.  

   B passed while Dean dragged the trees he cut down to the top of the property. He thought to turn off the truck's ignition, knowing the exhaust bothers me. He had dropped a load of his accumulated stuff. It makes me happy to know he's working on it. It means a lot to me.

  Despite the activity, it felt like an empty day. I watched the end of Scrublands. So well done. Great cast, great characters, and a great mystery.  The conclusion was something you could have suspected, but I didn't.