A possible campaign to save the apple tree is underway. Overnight it seems to have sprouted camellia blossoms. My heart remains cold, however, because I just spent a very long time scooping moldy goopy old apples out of the strawberry bed. I had assumed they would decompose over the winter, adding important nutrients to the soil. I do a lot of composting in place because I don’t like the hard labor of walking to the bins in the backyard but those stupid mealy apples have quite a shelf life.

Speaking of the backyard, I’m about to do the unthinkable. I’m going to plant something back there, a Daphne actually, and this will spur me to reclaim it from the dog poop, chickens, and old plumbing fixtures. Improvements will radiate from this one shrub and soon it will be a wonderland of foliage with hidden pathways, a guest cottage, a fire pit, and one of those really big chess sets made out of mossy stone. And to think, it all began with one Daphne.