trees and worms

It'll be another rainy day today and considerably cooler. The daffodils are already sagging under the weight of past showers. But that's okay -- this is April weather, they'll survive.

As I go out to feed the animals, I take along my shovel and weed pail. An hour with only light rain is an hour to get more weeds out. The greening of our landscape is so very lovely, but my beds don't need the added junk sprouting there right now. (And it is junk: anything that spreads quickly and chokes out flowers that are struggling to establish themselves should come out.) So I work away at the wee hours of the morning.

Breakfast? Definitely in the kitchen. With some toppled daffodils in a vase.

 

During the morning meal we return to the topic of trees. Ed brings it up. He has an idea on how to protect them from weed encroachment. I listen. He's imagining discs that he would make out of a combination of wood chips and other stuff. Something biodegradable. It sounds complicated. 

You really don't have to do this...

But you were so adamant, after reading that damn "plant an oak tree" article!

I wanted something pretty and beneficial...

This will be beneficial and at least not un-pretty. I'm doing it as a birthday present for you!

And so I guess we're back on the tree planting boat again. We'll see how long it stays afloat.

In the afternoon, I pick up Snowdrop at school. 

 

 

 

As usual, on the ride to the farmette, we review her day. I ask about the best part, expecting to hear the usual -- recess. But no, today her favorite was definitely library hour.

How about recess?

Not so good, she tells me. Apparently her friends were dumping worms into puddles. At first she was an audience (Snowdrop will not touch a worm), but after a while, she decided to intervene. The teacher had told them specifically to not do this and, besides, Snowdrop is in her own mind a protector of the environment. In not so many words, she tells her friends that destroying worms will lead to the eventual extinction of the human race. 

They ignored her. She walked away indignant, seeking solace and a minute of peace in the "butterfly garden" to strategize the next step. I decided that next time I'll ask them how would they feel if a whale picked them up and dumped them for some other fish to eat. 

To add insult to injury, her friends picked school daffodils (against a teacher's directive once again) and dumped the flowers into the puddle, along with the worms. I asked what happened then.

Gaga, I didn't stay to see. Maybe the worms ate the flowers, but I don't know if a worm is a carnivore, omnivore, herbivore, or insectivore. 

Recess, her favorite time, was a bust.

 

At the farmette, Snowdrop now finds total pleasure in spending time in the crab apple tree. 

 

 

 

I get it. I liked tree sitting too when I was her age. And older.

More rain expected tomorrow. Because, you know, when it rains it pours.