One Tree

I bought a Japanese Maple today. It's a sad-looking tree. 'bout half of its leaves are crinkled up fists. The other half's on the ground. The woman at the tree store assured me that it'll survive our zone 6 winters. I have my doubts. Anyway, I picked this tree because of its color. We're already saturated in greens. I'll have to find a nice sun/shady place in our wilderness. It'll be a minor improvement to our landscaping. As I mentioned before, the previous owners of the house maintained the house well, they just were crappy with the outdoor bits.

I may buy a dogwood or two later. They were on sale, but they also looked pretty sad, since all of their leaves were gone. There were a couple of nice cherry trees I'll be considering as well.

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I'm not writing right now, which is okay. I've been doing a lot of reading and grading, so the poems have taken a back seat. Plus all the medical crap that I went through and am going through has affected my routine. I probably won't get around to being a productive writer until February. I need another summer.

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I'm going to try my hand at some colonies this year. I didn't apply last year 'cause I know 1) I'd be broke, 2) I'd be moving into a new house. I'm not sure if I have the temperment for a colony, though. I may wind up mowing their lawns or maintaining their gardens. THIS poet cannot idle.

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Tonight, I'm going to Village Books to hear my colleagues Bruce Beasley and Suzanne Paola, read to support Long Journey: Contemporary Northwest Poets. Should be fun.