Don't Give Up

This tree in the front pasture is a prime example of the will to live.  It has been in this hollow-core condition for at least the last 23 years, as long as I've lived here, and who knows how long before.  With all the dead-but-solid and the living, healthy trees that have fallen on the property, one would think this one would have been the first to go, but it still hangs on.  I look out after every storm, expecting to see it on the ground.  The heartwood is completely gone.  All that is left is the cambium and bark.  Still, every spring the branches leaf out, proclaiming, "I'm still here.  I'm still alive.  Don't give up on me!"

Thanks to the Kids and Neighbor Joe I have a wealth of firewood this year, but can't break the habit of conservation.  It's a rare day, usually the wet ones, that I call Stove into service before sundown.  Yesterday afternoon it was actually warmer outside than in and I had the front door open.  Camille had called and we were discussing the state of the world, including the fact that the wild things are having a hard time finding food these days, partly due to it being winter and also because more and more population has moved into the area.  I was enjoying the sunlight streaming in when suddenly I almost dropped the phone.  A coyote was trotting leisurely on the driveway right in front of the door!  That's not an everyday sight.  Places to go and things to do, it didn't even turn its head toward the house.  In view of our conversation, Camille wondered it the creature was on its way to her place for a dinner of the local (raw) version of KFC.  Her flock free ranges on a couple of acres and would be a prime target.  Her dogs did not sound the alarm.  Michael didn't even lift his head.

I don't know if Celeste is feeling insecure or whether she just wants a warm lap, but she is like a limpet.  When I get up, she follows me from room to room, crying piteously.  Cats have no concept of personal space.  There is absolutely no way to keep her from fitting herself somewhere onto my lap, sometimes in what looks like impossible positions.  She doesn't give up.