A Healthy Specimin

The bottom most palm fronds droop and die and become both an eyesore and a place for rats to nest, so it is necessary to trim them off.. There was someone doing that to this tree this morning--feeding the cut fronds into a chipper. My brother has a tree like this and we know from experience that the fronds, dead or alive are wickedly sharp and difficult to remove. This tree looks especially healthy and green after its new haircut, and is a much less silly species than the ridiculously tall ones that sprout a little topknot and grow all over Southern California.

I am always struck by the number of trucks and service vehicles on our road and the one that goes up the hill behind our house. We are no exception. There are times when the driveway in front of our house looks more like a parking lot--filled with white vans and pickups. We need people to tend the well and the septic system, the garden and the irrigation system, to wash the windows, renovate the bathroom, deliver packages and even,...ahem...tow the car out off the bushes.

OilMan and I went to visit the dermatologist today for our semi-annul skin check and donation of little bits of ourselves for closer examination. This became much less traumatic for OilMan after his experience with Heather back in June when she surgically removed several basal cell carcinomas. She made the whole experience less terrifying for him, and today his comment was, "I love Heather...she can do anything to me." Since I am always in the room with him, I feel pretty benign about this love affair.... It is a testament to how much we like the whole office, that I actually agreed to join a year long study for some topical potion, requiring monthly visits, blood tests and even an EKG!

Our trip across town was the maiden voyage for OilMan's new car, which I think he was just a teeny bit afraid to drive. He spent the morning poring over the owner's manual and pondering such things as voice activated commands and "My Touch" controls, not to mention the fact that proper driving techniques are necessary to optimize the fuel efficiency of the hybrid engine. There is a large readout on the dashboard which keeps one constantly informed, with little green leaves a, appearing when braking and accelerating are being properly performed. I would find this enormously distracting, so my approach would be to drive the car first and orry about all the other stuff later. As long as I can turn on the radio....