We have two Colorado Blue Spruce trees in our front yard.
One, a taller, sparer tree lives slightly West of the best water. She’s the Mama tree, producing Spruce-cones, protecting the Papa tree from the harsh West wind, and giving of herself – to the point that she almost died of thirst one summer while her mate prospered.
The shorter, plumper, fuller Papa tree to her east provides a home for birds of many species. His many branches hide them so well that we can’t find the nest if a chick falls in the spring or summer. He is very prosperous, our Papa tree, and grows out, not up, so Mama can catch the early morning sun on her cone-laden upper branches.
Respecting their natures, we put the bird-seed in the Mama tree and stay away from the Papa tree, so as not to disturb the many families.
When we did a bit of decorative landscaping last spring, laying down fabric and bark in a newly-created aluminum circle, Papa was careful not to scratch my back with his low branches. He kept his sharp needles away. Mama, on the other hand, was much more interested in protecting her babies and wasn’t so worried about my back – or the weeds and grass we removed from around her trunk. Her needles were sharp, although not hurtful. I do think she was grateful that we’d noticed how thirsty she was and remedied the situation. Grateful, but wary.
So far from their mountain home, and such good neighbors. It would be heartless not to be thankful for the pleasure of their company.
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Drop in at Sherry's to read or comment on the most recent "View from the Trailing Edge," "Trailing Edge Dictionary of Modern America," attempts at poetry, and/or the occasional "Deeper Meaning of Liff" (Douglas Adams).
About Me
- Sherry Spence
- A Maternal and Child Health consultant, I am interested in the relationships between our health and our environment - the people, places, institutions, and conditions that affect us. I've been a vital statistics and cancer registry manager, a key player in developing health information systems, a single mother, a middle manager, a contract researcher, a French teacher, and an occasional writer.
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Trailing Edge Dictionary of Modern America
Area of Environment:
Global Climate Change: (noun phrase. Origin: Politically correct clarification of "Global Warming") (1) ongoing, world-wide, man-made changes including significant increase in average temperature, increase in extreme weather events, and changes in the Earth's crust leading to increased volcanic and earthquake activity; (2) normal, cyclical variations in average temperature, not caused by humans and not much different from El Niño or La Niña, except that the most recent one with the same pattern of atmospheric change happened about 56 million years ago.
* Sample sentence (primary definition): Global climate change is here; the only question is how badly will it harm vulnerable populations and how bad will we let it get.
* Sample sentence (secondary definition): Global climate change is here; we didn't cause it before, which proves we're not causing it now.
Area of Political Endeavor:
Campaign Promise: (noun phrase. Origin: LBCE [Long Before Common Era]) (1) series of words and phrases designed for maximum effectiveness in evoking pleasant, comfortable feelings toward the speaker and minimum content; (2) description of what the speaker will be unable to accomplish, if elected, owing to a lack of direct control over its occurrence; (3) [rare usage] set of positions and proposed actions concerning important governance issues and over which the speaker will have some control if elected.
* Sample sentence (primary definition): Her campaign promises were great; I'd tell you about them but I it was really the way she put it; you had to be there.
* Sample sentence (secondary definition): He would have lived up to his campaign promise, but it turned out that State Representatives can't make economic policy for countries other than the USA. Who knew?
* Sample sentence (tertiary definition): My friend Jeanne's campaign promises were clear and unhesitant. When she got elected, she accomplished them, too.
Global Climate Change: (noun phrase. Origin: Politically correct clarification of "Global Warming") (1) ongoing, world-wide, man-made changes including significant increase in average temperature, increase in extreme weather events, and changes in the Earth's crust leading to increased volcanic and earthquake activity; (2) normal, cyclical variations in average temperature, not caused by humans and not much different from El Niño or La Niña, except that the most recent one with the same pattern of atmospheric change happened about 56 million years ago.
* Sample sentence (primary definition): Global climate change is here; the only question is how badly will it harm vulnerable populations and how bad will we let it get.
* Sample sentence (secondary definition): Global climate change is here; we didn't cause it before, which proves we're not causing it now.
Area of Political Endeavor:
Campaign Promise: (noun phrase. Origin: LBCE [Long Before Common Era]) (1) series of words and phrases designed for maximum effectiveness in evoking pleasant, comfortable feelings toward the speaker and minimum content; (2) description of what the speaker will be unable to accomplish, if elected, owing to a lack of direct control over its occurrence; (3) [rare usage] set of positions and proposed actions concerning important governance issues and over which the speaker will have some control if elected.
* Sample sentence (primary definition): Her campaign promises were great; I'd tell you about them but I it was really the way she put it; you had to be there.
* Sample sentence (secondary definition): He would have lived up to his campaign promise, but it turned out that State Representatives can't make economic policy for countries other than the USA. Who knew?
* Sample sentence (tertiary definition): My friend Jeanne's campaign promises were clear and unhesitant. When she got elected, she accomplished them, too.
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