Two weeks ago I received a instant message from a friend I have never met in person, however that has never been a problem for us. We know each other as friends should. It is doubtful we will ever meet, face to face, in this lifetime. We became friends five years ago on Facebook, traded postcards and small gifts and then we began to trade stories about our lives. She is my 'favorite Communists' and I am her 'favorite Capitalists'.
There is a nine hour difference in our time zones mixed with a span of thousands of miles and an ocean to cross. Often when we talk it is Sunday for her and still Saturday for me. I am retired and I keep odd hours because I like to write in the middle of the night. She is a new mother and her daughter does not sleep through the night yet. On those nights or early mornings, when neither of us can sleep, we meet on our computers to trade life stories.
The other night she asked me, "Vicky, do you think we will have another world war?" I paused for a long time...thinking about the question. She sent me another message, "Are you there?"
"I'm here...I am thinking about your question." I replied. I was hesitant to answer her question. My view of a world war had begun to play out in the news for months. Our countries are basically enemies...and yet we are two mothers who are unlikely friends. I finally said, "I think there will be another world war eventually."
It was her turn to be quiet. Finally, I asked, "Are you there?" After a deafening silence she said, "I'm here." Several powerful minutes later she wrote, "I think so too."
I am sure we were both glancing at our computer screens while thinking very serious frightening thoughts. She was holding her infant daughter. I was stirring a cup of lukewarm coffee and staring off into the space above my computer.
At last I wrote, "I think I need to go... talk to you later." Instantly she replied, "Me too..."
A poem by Robert Frost came to mind. I started to send a quote to her but decided against it. She was taking care of her baby and that was much more important. However, the poem remains stuck in my mind:
"Some say the world will end in fire.
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire..."
I am afraid we have gone too far to turn back now. The play is in motion. We are just along for the ride.
When we woke up this morning we knew, before the day ended, our last soft maple tree in the front yard would be cut down.
I hated to cut this tree down. I also had become somewhat afraid of her existence. She had outgrown her spot in the yard; leaning too far over our home. It was a matter of time before the unpredictable weather caused her to fall on our house. Wind had caused damage earlier in the spring when a force of nature ripped part of the north facing tree off, landing the limbs and branches in my flower bed. That was our first major wake up call concerning the life of that tree. Wednesday we talked about the tree and Friday we took the tree down.
Jody, our other brother, did the cutting. Tommy had a rope tied to the truck keeping the tension tight as Jody began to saw the 60 foot tree down at its base. I took photos of the tree as it fell. There were four shots fired from the tree as it slowly began to ease toward the ground. The cracking of the tree was loud. It popped and snapped as it fought to stand erect. I saw the top branches sway back and forth ever so slightly as she began to loose control. For some reason I took several steps backwards, knowing full well I was already out of the danger zone.
I had moved all my yard decorations out of the front yard earlier that morning. I placed our flag
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in an abandoned satellite pole so
it could keep flying during the whole process. Slowly the tree began to fall. I was worried about Jody and Tommy. I wasn't 100% sure Tommy was far enough away. He was. I worried that the rope might break from all the stress and tension. It didn't. I was worried that Jody might get hurt
in a kick back from the tree. He didn't. Everything went according to plan. In less than a couple of minutes the 60 year old tree lost the battle and landed hard and loud in our front yard .
The tree hit the ground with a shrieking crash and a mighty slam. It continued to snap and pop for a few minutes as limb after limb gave up the fight. Within fifteen minutes a male cardinal landed in the mess of limbs and tangled branches. I was surprised to see this and missed the photo as I watched in amazement. Two hours later the tree was filled with juncos, finches, sparrows and a few cardinals. Once again they claimed their section of our tree.
As I walked toward the tree I had a 'moment' when a ton of memories and photos flashed through my mind. I remembered the fairy gardens, the sand boxes, swing sets,and our first hummingbird feeder as it hung from this tree. I remember nights when we sat outside in a swing, watching the kids play. I remembered nights when Tommy would bring his guitar outside to sing and play music as the sun set and darkness crept in taking over the night shift. I also remembered funny times. Once Lisa and I were sitting in an old red swing. The back broke and both of us hit the ground with our feet straight up in the air. We all laughed until I think we cried. Even then it didn't take much to make us happy.
That tree served its purpose and will continue as we cut the wood up for next years heat. It is all part of the cycle of life...and such a nice life it has been.
I made up my mind, about a year ago, I wanted to let my hair return to its natural color. It had been such a long, long time since I had seen my real color, I wasn't sure what I would find. Tommy asked me for several years to "quit messin' with my hair and just let it go natural." I turned a deaf ear to all that nonsense. I wasn't ready by any means to go grey. However, my hair was. The crazy mess stopped holding color. I had a silver streak in my bangs that refused to be covered up for any length of time. Slowly, I changed my mind and became excited about the color...so did my hair dresser. She was surprised at how dark the back of my hair really is. She teased me that the hair color I wanted for years was the color of my natural hair and I just didn't know it!
My hair still had a lot of red at the very ends that really needed to be cut off. My best guess was two more hair cuts and I would be back to good ole Mother Nature's original plan. I called and asked my friend if she could trim my hair. She was booked solid but said she could give me a trim on Halloween if that was fine with me. It was. Tommy and I were going to town that day anyway for our annual 'getting engaged' dinner and some shopping.
I walked in to the salon and had to wait a few minutes. I am never without a book, a pen, paper or a copy of the Constitution so I can easily entertain myself. In a few minutes I was called back. When I rounded the corner there stood my friend looking nothing like she usually does. It took a minute to realize that the person I was looking at was my friend. She started laughing and so did I. I had to have a picture of her. I wanted to know if she "was up to cutting hair today because I could always come back when she was more herself." We had a good laugh and then she sat me in the chair and cut nearly all of the red out of my hair.
goo
I asked her if I could write a blog about this and good natured person that she is, said it would be fine...just do not mention her name. No one will recognize her I am certain. I also learned her husband helped fix her hair that morning. She had freckles and cold cream blotched on her face. She was by far the best trickster I saw Halloween.
Here is the outcome of our adventure. I am almost 95% natural...and my friend, is also back to normal. Her husband no longer fixes her hair before she goes to work. All in all it was a good Halloween for everyone at the beauty shop...and I am almost 'normal' ...and they said it couldn't be done!
