The tree man and his minions managed to get both trees down before lunch. Their absence isn't really noticeable, except in the case of the smaller pine tree that was all scraped up from the water oak leaning on it. I had them cut the big pine down to about a three foot high stump. It will make a nice place for squirrels to hang out (once I get back to feeding them) or a little black and white cat.

And I wrote the check. Trees that can't be "dropped" cost a bundle, but this guy has reasonable rates.

Tomorrow I have a chiropractor appointment in the morning, but I also need to make dentist and orthopaedist appointments. And the tree guy pointed out another dying tree on parish property in front of my house and suggested I call them about it. If it falls it will likely take out electric, cable, and phone lines for a fairly wide area. With luck I may have time in the afternoon to check out a nursery and talk about putting a crepe myrtle in my front yard. It's probably the wrong time of the year to do this, but I can also ask about enriching the soil until it IS time to plant it.

A crepe myrtle will look nice in the spring and summer when it blooms, and my intended location is within the viewing range of my eventual-neighbors' second floor front porch.

One plus about the tree people--their equipment mashed down the remains of the dead overgrown rye grass. Now the native bermuda can spread over that part of the yard.

When I went out for a late lunch I picked up the mail and found TWO books I'd ordered. I'm about halfway through the second in the John the Eunuch series. I also got a Sherri Tepper, and right now I can't remember the title, but I haven't met a Sherri Tepper I didn't like on a variety of levels.

And when I was ensconced in the huge chair at PJ's reading the Eric Meyer book I spotted a couple of ladies stopping at the rack that has flyers and magazines--and books for free. I'd just added about half a dozen, all with the neat labels from bookcrossings.com, and they were looking them over. They spotted me and asked about bookcrossings. I explained, and told them that one of my books had made it to South Africa. One of the women writes a column for some paper-type publication (I didn't recognize her name) and said she thought she'd do a columnn on the travelling books. Could she use my name? No, only my bookcrossings name.

So, not the day I'd planned, but a pleasant and productive one.