I am very excited to report that the maple out front, in the last 24-28 hours, has had its leaves change, and I can look forward to many years of a deep majestic red tree:
I am so excited for it to grow big and tower over everything.
In other news, I remain consistently horrified by the random thoughts that run through my head. I saw a pumpkin today and my thought was “Oh god when do those little fuckers dress up and come mugging for sweets I need to get candy bars in 50 years I don’t want to be remembered as the guy with the shitty candy.” I can do nice things and pretend to be civil but the monster on the inside is terrifying to me.
Speaking of terrifying, I just finished reading the Taylor intro that Adam linked to. Jesus christ.
Mary G
Fabulous choice! We’ll need pictures every fall. Preferably with pets playing in the leaves.
sukabi
I’m looking forward to many years of a days worth of deep appreciation for the leaves colors followed by weeks of bitching about the raking of said leaves. ??????
kindness
I learned a valuable lesson one Halloween. Don’t buy the best candy evah. One year I did. All the kids told all the other kids and soon I had some of those lil shits coming back 3 times. I had high school kids in no costume knocking on my door. Costco bulk since then. Better than Grandma candy but not a whole lot better. That and I moved to a nicer neighborhood.
The Fat Kate Middeton
My landscaping husband says you need to start thinking about trimming those bottom branches. The earlier the better (and the easier).
JPL
@sukabi: The bitching has already started here.
JPL
@kindness: lol That happened when I decided to buy peanuts for the squirrels too. I was tired of them stealing all the bird seed so I hung a gallon milk jug filled with peanuts. Of course, they had to be organic and unsalted and the f..kers told their friends.
NotMax
No naked raking.
Puh-leeze!
Mary G
Thoughts and prayers, Aunt Becky!
Sab
How is the willow doing out back? Things do look dry back there, so it’s just doing its job?
Mary G
Yay!
Skepticat
Lovely tree; one of my favorite colors, especially if there’s a nice golden-leaved one nearby. Enjoy it.
I spent a fair amount of time on the phone today with someone I need to take down a huge pine tree threatening my house on the island in Maine. They had 60 mph winds this weekend, and I figured I was about to lose a second house in two months. My nephew went over today and found the top half of the tree next to it had come down and landed parallel to the house on the deck. One destroyed home, one cat in renal failure, one cottage in peril, and one country totally in the toilet—where did I put that vodka?
trollhattan
Nice maple! You should name it Marla.
Our yard makeover is rounding into fall 2 and there have been successes, deaths and stuff sitting there still deciding. The evergreen Asian pears we planted on the west for afternoon shade have been brilliant while the Valley oak on the north, intended to eventually become a heritage street canopy tree, is sending out “meh” vibes. Hope it makes it because they make magnificent trees some kid born next decade will treasure.
Drip irrigation remains a mystery.
trollhattan
@Mary G:
What kills me is USC ain’t that hard to get accepted to. Ah well, Rich People.
patroclus
Chris Hayes just did a great mash-up of all the lying Republicans saying “no quid pro quo” right after summarizing Taylor’s testimony describing the obvious and explicit quid pro quo.
raven
Sunset at the beach.
HumboldtBlue
I do not participate in Halloween and have never given out candy as a single adult. I have also never had any kids come knocking on my door because we don’t have any kids in the neighborhood and haven’t in the 12 years I’ve lived here.
What lie of Trump’s lies has been the most bothersome?
The answer
I think that strikes a chord in a lot of the folks who frequent this joint, I am convinced that somewhere above 90 percent of the commenters here have sworn allegiance to this nation while being sworn in for one duty or another.
I’m not one much for oaths but when I have taken them — Pennsylvania Army National Guard, U.S. Air Force, sworn witness — I at least take them seriously and have never dishonored them in any shape or form.
The fucking GOP needs to be targeted as a direct threat to the security of this nation.
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
Sometimes I think enviously of maple trees and other unknowing beings, going through life as they do, blissfully unaware of the horror of the Tяump administration and other such things…
jl
Beautiful tree with beautiful fall red leaves. Thnx for treepix.
Looking forward to blissful Cole posts on the joy of raking leaves.
I do however remember some commenters insisting that all of Cole’s trees are too close and/or too far away from various items, and complete disaster will ensue.
So, i am hopeful but wary.
HumboldtBlue
@Mary G:
That is very good news and a long time coming.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@trollhattan: You spelled U$C wrong.
opiejeanne
Beautiful! It’s funny how quickly the leaves turn. I came downstairs a couple of days ago and saw this:
Suddenly, it’s fall.
geg6
We have a Japanese maple in our grotto that just makes me smile every time I look at it in the fall. It is spectacular!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@opiejeanne: Photographer I met at Leo Carillio a few months ago went up the the Sierra foothills above Bishop and got some nice fall color shots.
ETA: I was at The Huntington yesterday and no color changes there, then again, it was 102 here today.
chris
Nice tree, Cole, and someone will love you for it. I got all my winter hardwood from the backyards of two friends after Hurricane Dorian. All planted 35-40 years ago. Let that be your legacy.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@jl:
This is probably prudent.
Ben Cisco
@Mary G: From Full House to the Big House!
opiejeanne
@JPL: We were putting out black sunflower seeds for the small birds. Some fell to the deck and we spotted towhees and a little squirrel picking them up from the deck. A friend identified the squirrel as a Douglas squirrel. They’re less than half the size of a healthy gray squirrel, and now that we’ve been putting the seeds on a plate every morning both he and the gray squirrel are showing up, but if Douglas sees Mr Gray he chases him across the yard and over the fence. It’s hilarious to watch.
Today we set out some peanuts and the gray took some, but we think they’re too big for Douglas.
trollhattan
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Backpacking a couple weeks ago in Emigrant Wilderness, the aspen were in full color. Gorgeous, although not nearly the large stands that exist on the eastern slopes. With no meaningful storms it should be a fine season for fall colors.
mrmoshpotato
@Mary G: Fuck ’em.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@trollhattan: Wish I could have gone up there, sigh.
Joy in FL
Your tree is so beautiful.
chris
@Skepticat: Damn! If it weren’t for bad luck… I hope things get better for you soon.
I was in southern Maine last week when the storm came through. ‘Twas airy as we say here in Nova Scotia. Thursday morning CMP was reporting 170,000 customers without power. Fortunately my aunt is in assisted living with a big generator.
mrmoshpotato
If the maple and the willow team up, Cole’s a goner.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Ben Cisco: The Federal Pen in Dublin, CA is right next to the Alameda County Bomb range where the Mythbusters made big boom.
Mike in NC
I planted three Japanese maples out front shortly after we moved here, 10 years ago. One of them by the driveway is now 9 feet tall and gorgeous.
mrmoshpotato
@?BillinGlendaleCA: “When in doubt, C4!”
Mary G
@raven: @opiejeanne: Both beautiful pictures. I’ve tried to take sunset on the beach photos to post here with my digital camera made in 2006 and my $100 cell phone, but they never come out well. I had a red Japanese maple at my house in South Pasadena, but was never spectacular. There’d be half an hour of maroonish leaves, then they fell off.
opiejeanne
@?BillinGlendaleCA: In that heat you’re likely to just see dead leaves and skip the fall colors.
That Japanese maple in my picture was cheap for what it was. $29. I’ve got a more expensive one that isn’t doing as well and probably needs to be repotted. Autumn Moon. It has pastel fall colors most of the year, but no flaming reds and yellows and oranges.
This no-name maple needs to be planted in the garden bed on the north side of the deck, and I’ll go and buy another cheapie.
HumboldtBlue
It would be nice to see a national push for more unions.
Medical students in Portland have just formed a union.
Mike in NC
Terrific movie streaming on Netflix called “The Laundromat” with a stellar cast headed by Meryl Streep. About insurance fraud and worldwide money launderers. Features Russian mobsters and Mexican cartels and I’m waiting for them to introduce Jared and Ivanka.
mrmoshpotato
@Mike in NC: Who plays Dump screaming, “My daddy Vladdy said no collusion!”?
Will part 2 include Dump shaking down Ukraine?
opiejeanne
@trollhattan: Our birches are a bright yellow wall right now, except for one holdout that’s still green (the previous owner planted a mixed collection of birches, probably because they were cheap.) I keep trying to photograph them but we’ve had so much wind and rain this week that I’ve had no luck getting a good shot.
Jeffro
Taylor should be all 24 nails in trumpov’s coffin, but as always with the GOalPost Movers, we’ll have to wait and see.
Meanwhile, file this under “if a moron sees the right thing coming for the wrong reasons, it’s still the right thing…but jesus she’s still a moron”: Why The Senate Might Actually Remove trumpov
Ok, McMegs, you’ve been on point so often before…
This is easily one of the dumber things she’s referenced, ever. Megan, once he was the nominee, 110% of Repubs closed ranks behind him.
Wait…is…did…did she lament lack of ‘collective action’?
Yes…that was all about ‘herd mentality’ and not people waking up to realize that Teh Boogeymanz of gay rights wasn’t quite so scary after all.
Did she say “opens up emotional space” in regards…to…trumpov voters??? For real?
Ok, totally on point here, gotta give her pr…
…oh whoops, never mind. McMegs, those folks are riding this one ALL the way in.
Ok, now I’m hacked. “Regulatory and judicial protection from the social justice warriors”…please proceed to explain that in great detail, Ms. “Libertarian Person”. GREAT detail.
No one in the GOP thinks that the Dems will be appointing judges in 2021…they are ‘all in’, dear. And they’ll do whatever it takes to try and make that happen.
Anyway, a whole lot of over-analysis, most of it bad, from everyone’s favorite op-ed lottery winner. Things will continue to spiral downward for trumpov, and the GOP, until things crack. There is no sign of it getting better and plenty of signs of it getting worse. So rather than parse 2016 primary voters or talk about trumpov/benefit analysis, maybe McMegs could just…uphold the principle that crooks should be booted out of office and go to jail?
opiejeanne
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I know a woman who spent a couple of years there. Fraud, embezzlement. She preyed on friends of mine and was very involved in a dance studio in Riverside where my girls were when they were little. Her own girls were in HS and the dad was out of the pickture, but she presented a massive list of demanded goodies to people who were trying to be good to her.
Sociopath.
rikyrah
So beautiful, Cole??
Matt McIrvin
My progressive betters on Facebook are all piling on the evil witch Hillary.
Aleta
* https://gen.medium.com/running-covert-propaganda-against-americans-is-illegal-trump-tried-it-anyway-c324133b218a
Running Covert Propaganda Against Americans Is Illegal. Trump Tried It Anyway.
The whistleblower stopped a covert psychological operation against the American public dead in its tracks
?BillinGlendaleCA
@opiejeanne: I’ve lost a couple of plants, it’s Santa Ana season down here.
opiejeanne
@Aleta: And they keep trying to pretend that because they didn’t threaten Zelensky, they didn’t try to coerce him, they just asked (we know they didn’t just ask) that it isn’t a problem, EXCEPT that the act of just acting is just as illegal as the threat.
Also, they withhold funding from countries/people/groups/states on the basis that there is CORRUPTION there. HUG knowingly held back most of the money allocated for relief for Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, BECAUSE THERE MIGHT BE CORRUPTION!
corruption, everywhere except the WH, is their battle cry.
opiejeanne
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I’ve heard. My sister still lives in Upland. We’re trying to get her to move up here.
Enzymer
Beautiful tree. Be sure to water it if you have a drought in the next few years (you probably already know that, but we’ve been losing young trees in NC). Buy some Mexican candies for Halloween. Easy here in Durham, NC. Lots of delicious but spicy treats. My hispanic trick or treators are delighted by them. The others, less so. As leftovers the chocolate/chili & the spicy/hard candy are nice.
BruceFromOhio
@HumboldtBlue:
Yes, exactly.
And the tree is pretty, too.
Uncle Cosmo
@?BillinGlendaleCA: University of Spoiled Children…or did someone post that already?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Uncle Cosmo: Did I mention that I’m a UCLA alum?
Aleta
Good point. And didn’t Trump and Giuliani, or whoever, first try to claim that their reason for holding back the authorized aid was so they could … look into corruption in Ukraine. Yes, they are the guardians working to keep US $ out of impure pockets.
phein60
@Skepticat: In the freezer. That’s where you should always keep the vodka.
Oldest daughter’s car crapped out on her on the highway between Rockford and Chicago this afternoon. Will need new one over the weekend.
Middle son took a dive on his bike and broke both forearms, including two fractures to left ulna, this morning. CT scan on Thursday.
Youngest son had fencing accident at college; afraid to find out full details, but if he’d lost an eye, I’m sure they would have told us.
Vodka in freezer in garage. Mixes well with lemonade.
mrmoshpotato
@Jeffro: Thanks for taking one for the team. I think reading the actual article would’ve made me barf up my stomach.
Ken
@jl:
Sarcasm, right?
Jeffro
@mrmoshpotato: all part of the service! (also, blech)
stinger
That is a gorgeous tree and will be magnificent in another 10 years. Wishing you those and many more of sitting in its shade, listening to the birds in its branches, raking its lea…. oh wait.
dww44
@phein60: Wow. I wouldn’t wish your luck on my worst enemies. Hope that middle son recovers nicely. H e is gonna definitely need a lot of help. I had a cousin who broke both her wrists while walking in the wee hours of the morn.. A widow who lived alone, she had to hire helpers for a time.
dr. luba
@HumboldtBlue: Those are residents and fellows–graduates. Not students. Doctors in training. And good on them. They do so much of the work in many hospitals and get crap wages. At least their hours are better than in my day.
lee
Don’t forget to remove the bottom branches of the tree soon. Yeah it is going to look scrawny again but you will appreciate it when you are able to walk under it when it matures.
glory b
@kindness: I don’t mind the teenagers. In my community, if they want to hold on to childhood for a while longer, I’ll play along.