I speak for the trees

"Mister!" he said with a sawdusty sneeze,
"I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees.
I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues."

It's always a shame, to me, when a tree is cut down. Lots of them fell today.

I remember riding on the top of Cougar Mtn back home, and finding a Lorax painted on an old historical building, as grafiti, you might say, and he was shouting, "I speak for the trees!"

Well on Cougar Mtn, Issaquah, he might not worry so much, yes, they put in a golf course, then, ok, they put in a new housing community....

but today we watched 50 poplars come down, and land on our lovely field. It's ok, I wasn't upset, they asked permission first. The owner of No. 72 also owns a plot of trees on the other side of our field, and asked if she could have the old poplars cut down. They might fall and hurt someone, she said, and that is costly.

The sound of trees falling is so sad. Even when the storms do it, I ask myself how much longer the tree has been there, than I have been on Earth?

Then the tractor dragged all the trees to the top of our field, the gate. Then they stacked them. I was hurrying around, gathering the bundles of barbed wire I'd made this week, and laying them in a neat row by the street, for the recycler to come get. I felt worried the tree men would be annoyed that I was scurrying around in their way of tree demolition.



My man helped carry armloads of barbed wire. I got cut nastily on my leg, my first real injury from either blackberries or barbedwire. The owner of No. 72 gave me a spray bottle of disinfectant for my leg.









The owner of 72 and her boyfriend, the chainsaw-wielding blackberry cutting man was there. I introduced my man. I told them I was so happy to have nice neighbors, who want to help cut back the blackberries. They must have felt obliged, they said, "Please, just throw whatever you cut near your fences on our side. We'll deal with it." Nice!

The S's moved out today. My man and I stood in our little barn and watched the moving truck back into the driveway. The mailbox was taped shut, so they wouldn't get mail.

They warned us about a particular neighbor, who likes to stir up trouble, and Mrs. S said there is a young couple who would like to take me to the free church (a free church is a church unaffiliated with the government. Like home.) That's so nice of them!

Mrs. S hugged me and said please come visit, and Mr. S said "We'll be visiting you, when we come back to visit our children in this area."

He handed me the key. The key. I have the key! I have this excitement that means soon, very soon, the house will really feel like ours.

My man and I cut blackberries, we've cut back about 1/4 of our hang now! Progress.

I visited with our two special oak trees, whom I've named Bill and Pat, after my grandparents. They are really amazing trees, the only trees at all in our field.








They are way back in the far corner of the field, down by the creek, so I took some pictures to show the amazing privacy and dreamy feel of the place down there.









I think I've found my favorite spot on my new land.









Tomorrow I'll go riding, and then we'll be free to begin work, like painting the interior, if necessary, and moving, slowly. We have til the end of March, so no hurry. I still have not figured out a way to get my money from my bank in America to here in Germany, without paying the enormous fees the banks charge for such transfers. It's the only thing standing between me and my horse fence, so I'm determined to find a way.

Funnily, the owner of No. 72 said a rumor is circulating town that we don't want sheep on our land. !!!! We told the shepherd we'd think about it, we didn't tell him to stay away. But oh well, we'll see. She also said everyone is so curious about us. New neighbors in such a small town! Who are we? What are we like?

Those tree-dragging tractors did a number on my field today, but I wasn't upset at all. The difference was, they asked first, and they helped cut back blackberries from our fenceline the entire time. They're helping. Wonderful!

I've got a new key on my keyring, and it's to my new house: )