Summer 2022

7/9/2022

In November of 2021 I underwent open heart surgery for a mitral valve prolapse. I am doing great and am grateful to my doctors and everyone that helped me through this unexpected and rather frightening experience. I continued visiting the trees up until my surgery and since, but am only posting pictures on Facebook now. It didn't take me long to get back into the woods after the surgery. My husband and I are doing the Catskill Mountain Fire Tower Challenge and trying to hike the New York section of the Appalachian Trail. If you friend me on Facebook you will be able to see my continuing tree-hugs and other nature pictures! Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

1 Comment

Lorraine

7/17/2022 06:09:24 pm

Susan, I'm very glad you are feeling well and ready to be outdoors for your hiking. I am sorry to see the end of the blog, as I don't "do" social media, not even Instagram. I LIVE on the laptop and phone for friends but mostly for work, and I can't take on any more screen time. I am about to leave this machine and go outside to our patio, which is shaded by a c. 1875 Norway spruce. One dormer in our bedroom looks directly out into its branches. It appears to be a condo for many kinds of birds. I can't quite hug such an enormous tree trunk, but we try to make it comfortable. A decade or more ago we saw that its roots were breaking through the patio bricks, so we had various people come over to help us decide the best course, for both the people who gather on the patio and the venerable tree. Especially the latter! After a crazy, somewhat unsettling series of widely disparate bids, we chose a stonecutter from Ecuador and his brother., who could only work for us at night, after leaving their day jobs. We lit lanterns and gave them Thermoses of tea, as it was November and cold. They did a wonderful job, raising the patio 6 inches, to the level of the large, square concrete step-up in front of the kitchen door, after adding much sculptural soil. Not a brick was broken as they were first removed and then re-placed. The garden path had to be adjusted and an extra step leading to a gravel path.The tree's roots were treated tenderly, with good soil to cushion them as they continue to expand. So far no more restless roots syndrome. I always toss the pinecones the tree delivers back under their "mother's" draped branches.

Summer 2022

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