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Garden journal entry

 

Bracing Bradford
October 20, 2011. Nearly two months after Irene toppled Bradford (see a few posts ago), Brad's remainder has sprouted quite a few new leaves along its stumpy limbs. I guess the tree is optimistic about its survival. For now, I've braced it to hold it at least somewhat upright using a two-by-four and our shed. Hopefully, by next spring the tree will find a new balance and grow new roots to support its leaning mass.

In other news, our garden has a new resident! Some time ago, I lamented to a friend at work how our suburban plots are devoid of snakes. Last weekend, he called to announce he had caught a garter snake at his woodpile, and would I like it? Of course I said yes, and by Monday I had a snake (dubbed "Skippy" by my friend's son, who had taken a liking to him), temporarily housed in an aquarium. My kids and I captured a nice big cricket for him, which also went to live in the aquarium – but Skippy gave up on catching it after a few half-hearted attempts, and even after he ate half an earthworm, we were growing concerned about his state of nutrition. So this evening it was time for Skippy to go out into the wilds of our back yard island (a little off to the right of the photo here). He seemed quite happy to do so; I hope the garden will prove to be a good home, even if it doesn't supply other-gender serpentine companionship (I write about Skippy as a "he" above, but really I have no clue). Somehow, in all of this I flat forgot to snap a picture of Skippy. I wonder if I'll ever run into our little snake again...


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