Christmas tree


Last year Joyce and I bought each other a CD changer to replace the defunct one we had.  It was our Christmas present to each other and that worked out well, made Christmas shopping easier.  So this year we bought each other a tree, a five-foot (+/-) pinoñ.  There are several gaps in the perimeter plantings, a result of the drought, so I planted the newcomer in one we can see from our skyview room.  The nursery loaded it in the pickup with a skidloader and Chris helped me unload it by sliding it into a wheelbarrow from the pickup, then tipping up the wheelbarrow and sliding the tree out on the ground.  We didn’t try, nor do I think we could have lifted it.  Our mild weather of the last two weeks continued Thursday and I spent a couple of hours preparing the hole to plant it in.  The trunk of a dead juniper was still there but I discovered it had already rotted out enough for me to simply shove it over and drag it out of the way.  That meant I could dig my hole to position the new tree in line with the other trees.  The juniper roots were so rotten they gave me no trouble.

After digging my hole to the proper depth and making it twice as wide as the root ball, we laid the tree over on its side and pulled it out of the bucket it was in.   That’s when I discovered that the root ball wasn’t nearly as large as the bucket.  It was surrounded with mulch so wet it probably doubled the weight of the tree when in the bucket.  It was good that it was being kept moist but it also meant I dug the hole quite a bit bigger than needed.  Oh well, within reason, the hole can’t be too big.  Anyway, the task is done and we have a fine new tree which, assuming it prospers, will be a nice addition to SA.  I was amazed and gratified with how much moisture there was in the ground.  It was good and damp all the way down, which should help the new tree establish itself in its new home as well as help all the other trees continue to rejuvenate themselves over the winter.

Abigail’s team played in a tournament last weekend.  Thursday evening they played Randall and Caprock.  Randall handled them pretty good but the T-Rebs made a much better showing than they did when they scrimmaged Randall at the first of the season.  The Caprock team was a scrappy bunch and kept pulling ahead until the fourth quarter when the Rebels took a lead they never relinquished.  On Saturday there was a result similar to the Randall game when our girls played Hereford but they took care of Lubbock Coronado without too much trouble.  There was a referee in all four games that I thought was pretty sharp on her calls and a pretty no-nonsense type of person.  During the Coronado game I was sitting next to a man rooting for Coronado.  He had a few criticisms of the officials which he voiced.  This woman I was referring to took some of it but finally got enough and tossed him out of the gym.  Hee, hee.

When I arrived at Wildcat Bluff Wednesday morning I found that the ne’er-do-wells had been loose on the moor.  The shed where we keep our tools had been broken into and things like the DR trimmer, Stihl trimmers and other items that could be turned into cash easily were missing.  They even cut the lock off the money tree where hikers deposit their $3 entrance fee, or are supposed to.  If there were $20 in it that would be on the high side.  At best these guys were working for minimum wage.  Their drug habit probably precludes gainful employment, though.  Apparently they ran out of room in their vehicle, a pickup no doubt, and had to toss some of the trash out to make room for their booty.  The deputy investigating the burglary found a pizza box with the receipt attached which included an address.  Sure enough, it lead him directly to their hovel and we recovered some of our missing items.  Last I heard they had stopped the perp and charged him with drug possession and a firearm violation.  Maybe they’ll be able to match up some prints on the stuff he stole.  What a waste of time.

We were supposed to get an inch of snow Saturday and got closer to five or six inches.  It melted down to about eight tenths of an inch, a nice bit of moisture for a December.