Caveat: Tree #1590 “A drive to Thorne Bay”

This tree was hanging out with some other trees on the outskirts of Thorne Bay, off on the other side of our island.

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It’s about an hour and half drive from Rockpit to Thorne Bay. I went there because our new neighbors (who bought the lot where the house burned down in 2019) arrived by boat from down south, and they needed a taxi service over to Thorne Bay to pick up their truck with trailers, which was delivered via barge. All the barges to the island land over there – it’s more convenient on the east side of the island, directly adjacent to the Alaskan “inside passage”.

When I got home, I found a zucchini flower in my greenhouse, despite the persistent rain and obstinately gray skies.

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CaveatDumpTruck Logo[daily log: walking, 4.5km;]

Caveat: Tree #1587 “Recalling fun with photons”

This tree is a guest tree from my past – you should pick one of the trees in the foreground of the cityscape, below. I took this picture from the 10th floor of the National Cancer Center, in Goyang, S. Korea (northwest of Seoul), in July, 2013 (한국 경기 고양시 국립암센터). I was about midway through my month-long, in-patient odyssey there, getting decancerfied (fun with high-energy photons!). The view is eastward, toward downtown Seoul, which is sort of behind the right-hand flank of the mountains in the distance.

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CaveatDumpTruck Logo[daily log: walking, 4.5km; dogwalking, 3km]

Caveat: Tree #1586 “A moment of illumination”

This tree provided emotional support during my morning commute. It was raining as I drove into town on the “expressway”, but then suddenly some sun came out behind me and illuminated all the greenery.

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CaveatDumpTruck Logo[daily log: walking, 5km; retailing, 8hr]

Caveat: Tree #1578 “전라남 영광군”

This tree is a guest tree from my past. I took this picture from the window of my bus on my morning commute in Yeonggwang County, South Korea, in November, 2010. 이 사진은 2010년 11월 전라남 영광군에서 촬영했습니다.

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CaveatDumpTruck Logo[daily log: walking, 4km; retailing, 8hr]

Caveat: Tree #1576 “Awaiting some sun”

This tree is hoping for a bit of sun in through the window. There is a maple tree and two bay laurels, which I got a few months ago via the internet. I don’t want to subject these baby trees to the unending damp of an outdoor life in Southeast Alaska just yet – I have noticed that exotic saplings seem to have a hard time with that aspect of the local climate, more than issues with the lower temperatures or lack of direct sun. Too many of my saplings have died of “too much moisture” – mostly due to concomitant mold / fungus, I suspect.

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CaveatDumpTruck Logo[daily log: walking, 2.5km;]

Caveat: Tree #1575 “A challenge”

This tree confronted overcast skies.

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My mental association with me yelling is that I’m angry. Or terrified of something. Of course, this makes sense. I’m not a person to raise his voice without good reason.

The “emotional” problem I have in dealing with Arthur is that – in the context of his increasing deafness – the only way to get through to him in answer to whatever banal, day-to-day questions he asks of me (and always without his hearing aids, because he “forgets” to put in his hearing aids, of course), is to yell: much louder than my accustomed tone of voice. And the mental trick my mind plays, that I can’t seem to overcome, is that by yelling, I become angry – whether or not I really am. And I just can’t seem to bypass this gut-level, emotional reaction.

Arthur asks me “What’s for dinner?”

I answer, in a regular tone, “I thought we’d have a salad.”

“What? Who?”

Louder, I repeat, “I thought we’d have a salad.”

“A palace?”

Louder still, I yell, “No. A salad!” Now I’m angry. My gut is churning.

Meanwhile, “Oh, a salad. I thought you said palace. I was very confused. Why would we have a palace for dinner?”

“Just a @#$% salad!”

Repeat, on different banal topics, 10-20 times a day.

CaveatDumpTruck Logo[daily log: walking, 1.5km;]

Caveat: Tree #1569 “Not far from home”

This tree was along a winding road; I was out for a morning walk with the dog, a quarter mile from our house.

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I finally got around to installing a door on my little shed/greenhouse thingy. I really need to get this shed done so I can use it, so I can begin work on my treehouse again.
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CaveatDumpTruck Logo[daily log: walking, 5km; dogwalking, 3km]

Caveat: Tree #1565 “An outing for fuel”

This tree bore witness to my journey to the metropolis of Klawock, where I purchased fuel. We no longer have a gas station in Craig, so fuel purchases require a 7 mile trip to the next town up the road. You can see there’s still a lot of snow on the mountains to the east.

A gas-station pump in the foreground, with semi-desolate a parking lot in the middle ground and highway and trees and snowy mountains in the receding farther distance

CaveatDumpTruck Logo[daily log: walking, 4km; retailing, 8hr]

Caveat: Tree #1564 “Rock-catcher”

This tree (which has been decapitated) has caught a rock. It’s a bit hard to see how it fits in, but there is a fairly large rock wedged between two of the cut-off, upthrust branches. I’m wondering how it got there – it’s a few feet off the ground.

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CaveatDumpTruck Logo[daily log: walking, 5km; retailing, 8hr]

Caveat: Tree #1563 “Robinson Crusoe”

This tree had a mountain behind it.

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I built a shelf in my greenhouse. I was particularly proud of the fact that I used entirely “found” and “trash” items to build it – wood abandoned on the side of the road, some particle board shelf pieces found in the dumpster at work. I get a “Robinson Crusoe” feeling when I can do something like that, which pleases me.

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CaveatDumpTruck Logo[daily log: walking, 5km; dogwalking, 3km]

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