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Dead Poplars and Good Peaches



    Hey, everyone. We have been dividing our time between the green retreat and our place in the valley. This morning we were up at the green retreat and noticed that dozens of our poplar trees had died, simultaneously. What with an extended dry spell (recently broken) and temperatures over 100 degrees, it is not surprising that more trees have noticed the difference. I'll say it again, I believe that global warming is very real and very dangerous. I also believe that we have already passed the point of fixing it. I was amused to see the oil company executive pontificating on that subject the other day. Whatever.
     As I've mentioned before, we have had several species of trees die in our years on the mountain. First it was the dogwoods, then the pin oaks, then sourwoods and now the poplars. Our woods, and our world are changing more rapidly than most believe. Only those who live or work close to nature can hear her silent screams.
     Hey, I went on one of my games called Hooked On Words, this morning. As soon as I opened the app there was a video ad of Jack In the Box restaurants I had to endure. I deleted the game. I have mixed feelings about this stuff. You  get free games. These people work hard and deserve some coin, what do we expect? There are a lot of internet people who won't pay for anything. I cheap out quite a bit myself. I will say that if I enjoy a free game I will go and buy something from the people that made it, whether it be an in-app or another game. With their usual diligence, though, the marketers are busy trying to ruin IOS gaming.
     At our valley place we have some peach trees and there are small, sweet peaches on them. The other morning I went out and picked several to go with my breakfast. It occurred to me that they were the first peaches I had ever eaten off those trees. In Biblical days it was considered a sign of God's displeasure with a people if they 'planted a vineyard and never tasted the fruits thereof' or 'built a house and was never able to live in it'. I am a disillusioned old man and not very spiritual anymore but one wonders if America is not under some sort of condemnation.    
        Another thing that the peaches reminded me of was my youth. When I was 12 years old, one summer I got a job picking peaches in a big orchard. It was dawn to dark, hard, stoop labor for the princely sum of 65 cents an hour. I used the money to buy my first bicycle. It was a used bike but I bought some snazzy handlebar grips with colored streamers on them. Honest! I also bought  12 different subscriptions to comic books. Stuff like Justice League of America, The Atom, Flash, Green Lantern and others. I rode that bike 10 miles to town, on a routine basis, so I could get a soda at a drug store and check out the new comics. On one of those trips I was caught out in the rain and it rained so hard I couldn't breath. I got under a bridge until it was over. It was the hardest rain I've ever seen.

     Well! It looks like I've had an outbreak of seriousness this morning. I'll have to try to get rid of that! Let's see...what sort of lightweight things can I chatter about? Oh, I know. We have had a lot of rain, thank goodness. Here's a little video for you. I apologize for it being sideways but I took it on my I-Pad and turned it without knowing. Oops! The video would not upload. Sorry. How about a still shot?
     From the green retreat, I'm CE Wills.
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