Hackberry Hell, Revisited

 After our Hackberry adventure of the wee hours of yesterday morning we welcomed our dear friend Mike Bock for a two day visit. Maloney's Tree Service had cleared the driveway, leaving the a huge pile of limbs and branches at the back of the house and the standing half of the tree at the front. The plan was to take down the rest of the tree on Monday and haul off everything then. 

Mike had been in Chattanooga for a great niece's wedding and arrived late so we stayed up late visiting. So when the unmistakable sound of a tree falling intruded on our consciousness, we were wide awake and went running out the front door. And there was clear sky that should be obstructed by tree and there was obstructed road that should be clear. The second half of our big ol' Hackberry was lying across Avenue A all tangled up with wires, yet somehow the the lights were still on up and down the street.

Soon the first responders were there to block off the street...

... and then the Georgia Power crew was hard at work straightening out the wires...

...and then the city's public works folks began to clear the street.

In the light of morning the road is clear...

...but definitely not the driveway.

We'll walk to church today.

This side of our old house will have a lot more sun.

By the time we walked back from church...

...Maloney's was hard a work again clearing the driveway.

So we snapped a quick selfie.

That's the tree folks pulling away in the distance, but they'll be back tomorrow to haul away the last of the Hackberry.

I am Thankful for FaceTime!

Talking with Suzie

Sharing my yogurt & mango with Ruthie.

Playing "Sleeping Human" with Clemmie.

Social Media and the online world in general have some pretty important drawbacks. There is no doubt in my mind that a treacherous charlatan like Donald John Trump could not have been able to claim the presidency against the will of the American people without the tremendous boost he got from social media -- both the above board nonsense that he and his minions produced in the open and the secret multiplication of lies and filth produced undercover by his comrades in Russian basements.

BUT -- as a storyteller online telling has kept things going during a pandemic.

BUT -- as executor of my Mother's estate Zoom meetings have allowed seven siblings to fairly cooperate to fulfill Mother's wishes even though we are separated by many miles and assorted health issues.

AND -- through those heath issues my seven siblings have been able to support one another at a distance.

AND as a grandfather separated from his three wonderful granddaughters by an entire continent, the miracles of online visitation via FaceTime ain't the same as a real visit, but it sure beats nothing! 

Yesterday my babies called me from Vista, California connecting with my high-resolution brand-new MacBook at my kitchen table. There were no actual hugs, but it was just about the next best thing as we participated in about thirty minutes of tele-silliness. 

When we visit there Clementine likes to invent games/improvisation which must be recreated repeatedly with only occasional variation. On our last trip - last December - she came up with the "Sleeping Human" game. Clementine is the unquestioned Director and must occasionally stop the action to explain how the scene is to proceed.The cast includes:

Sleeping Human - me (GrandShaw)

Alarm Clock - Sheila (Granny)

Cat - Clemmie

Puppy - Ruthie

On the phone last night one new character was added: At nine months of age Suzie has been cast as Kitten.

Sleeping Human yawns, stretches, and goes to sleep, snoring softly. Cat and puppy find secluded spots to curl up and sleep.

(A few beats)

The Alarm Clock sounds.

Sleeping Human rises stretches, yawns, opens imaginary pet food and calls cat and puppy and kitten to breakfast. Cat and puppy crawl out of hiding and greedily devour imaginary food. 

The day passes very quickly and Sleeping Human is expected to sleep again. Repeat.

One month from today I will see these boogers in person!

Here are some screen shots from our FaceTime yesterday.

Suzie wants to look behind the cell phone.

Clem likes to get...

...up close... 

...and personal.

Suzie and I shared our food through FaceTime and our imaginations.

As Puppy, Ruth crawls away to sleep.

Ruthie with her Mommy

At one point Clemmie and Ruth decided to take me (the cell phone) right into their "circus tent".

Ruth & Clemmie love their little sister.

"What is this thing? Who is that guy?"

'plaining

Waiting for Alarm Clock Grannie...

...to wake the Sleeping Human.

All four of my Carlin girls.

Hackberry Hell

Southern Hackberry trees are a pain. The preferred common name is probably "Sugarberry", but I think most folks around here call Celtis laevigata "Hackberry". The leaves are not particularly pretty in the fall. The lumber is not commercially valuable. It is used as firewood more than anything, but occasionally some of it ends up in cheap furniture. 

Worst, perhaps is its companion species. Wherever you find Hackberry trees around these parts you will  also find Asian wooly hackberry aphids (Shivaphis Celti). Those creepy little aphids first invaded the US in 1996. Nowadays they have colonized most of the southeast as well as California. Their special talent is exuding something called "honeydew". Right? Well, sooty fungus really likes "honeydew". So every plant, porch railing, piece of yard furniture, cars, roofs, etc. under hackberries is coated with yucky black goo in the fall. Ugh! My friend Dr. Vincent Mendes has suggested I order lots of ladybugs early in the fall to release beneath the Hackberry trees in hopes they will feast of the aphids and thus reduce the "honeydew" yield. I may give it a try this year.

On the positive side "Sugarberry" is drought tolerant and a decent shade tree in urban areas. And its root system helps to stabilize riverbanks and hill sides to reduce erosion. They even say plant hobbyists can use it in bonsai. Of course the prolific dark purple ripe berries are loved by lots of birds whose digestive processes help condition the seed to sprout once the bird, ahem, distributes them about. And the berries are edible for humans. Native Americans have used them in many recipes for food and in medicines to produce abortions, regulate periods, and treat venereal disease.

One other thing: some say Hackberry trees are prone to weak branching and thus breaking limbs.

We had three "Southern Hackberries" (Sugarberries) in our yard -- till about 1:30 this morning. During that storm last night lightning or wind or some combination took down about half of our largest Sugarberry right outside the second floor bedroom where we were sleeping. Maloney's Tree Service will take down the rest next week.

We hear strange noises in our old house often. I guess last night we passed it off as that Whippet automobile salesman we suspect haunts our hallways in the night. I went right on back to sleep. I woke again at five or so and noticed some noise and lights outside. Rising I discovered our power was out, and peeping out the front balcony door saw power trucks and workers busily repairing power lines. Good they are on it. Back to bed. We did not know about the downed tree till the owners of the house next door called to let us know about nine that our tree was filling our shared driveway!

Our scofflaw Sugarberry tree paid no attention whatever to my clear signage.

We were sleeping soundly with our noggins right at that upstairs window closest to the tree.

As you see there was no getting through our driveway till the tree surgeons could do their work.

The view from our front porch. 

About half the tree fell pulling a foot or more of the trunk out of the ground on that side.

From our side yard the B&B was almost obscured.

This is the view from our bed.

The damage, thank goodness, was limited to the gutter and power entrance cable to the house next door. 

The Sugarberry took one large limb of the old Magnolia. 
That magnolia is in a photo of our house from 1918.

Maloney's Tree Service was on the scene in about an hour to begin the cleanup.

Georgia Power restored service to the B&B next door by mid-afternoon.

So we are out a bunch of money for tree service, plus, the electrical surges fried our Keurig machine, so we had no coffee for a while this morning! I had to walk all the way over to Dunkin on Shorter Avenue to remedy that intolerable situation.

For Sister Number Five

Daddy had just graduated from Asbury College that Spring. During the summer he had moved his five children, pregnant wife, and a small trailer load of belongings from Mackville, Kentucky to Griffin, Georgia.  He had enrolled in Emory University's Candler School of Theology and accepted an appointment from the North Georgia Conference of The Methodist Church. Daddy would serve Midway, Sunnyside, and Vaughn churches near Griffin. Our modest, and might-as-well-say-it, sort of rundown parsonage was at 333 South Ninth Street. 

Santa arrived with our Christmas present a few days early that year at the Griffin/Spaulding County Hospital. Mother held a beautiful little girl, my fifth sister, up to the window so we could see her on December 19. 

You gotta admit, that's a cute baby cleaned up for Olan Mills...

... or cleaning up the icing spoons and bowls for Mama.

The whole family for Christmas. This must have been 1955 when Beth
would have been a few days past her first birthday.

When I think of little Beth I think of what a cutie she was and I think of fishing. I think of the day most of the family climbed into that '54 blue and white BelAir to head to a lake for a day of fishing. Hot and tired and six of us, at least, if not all eight, were riding back from the lake when somehow Beth got a fish hook embedded in her earlobe!  A few years later, when we were on another fishing outing in a trout stream (maybe Noontooley?) a very surprised Beth reeled in a Hellbender! 

Another Olan Mills picture taken at Belk Gallant department store in Griffin about 1958.

This Olan Mills shot was taken in a second story studio on the square in Ellijay about 1960.

This snapshot was taken the front yard of our parsonage on Dalton Street in Ellijay about 1960.

Mother used those Olan Mills coupons... maybe 1962?

I sometimes fought with my closest sister, Carol. Maybe even with Debbie occasionally. But little Beth could do no wrong in my book. She was only ten when I went off to college. 

A school pic. I wonder what grade -- I'd guess about fourth.

I took this sideways picture of Beth in the yard of Trinity's parsonage on Timothy Avenue in Rome.

Two more of my pictures of Beth... 

... in the yard at Trinity's parsonage.

Beth and a couple of her buddies on a Trinity church school outing
to the Pocket in northern Floyd County.

Beth's Sunday School class at Trinity, Easter 1964.

A picture we printed ourselves of  Beth in the yard in Rome.

Our family did a lot of camping. L-R: Terry, David, Beth.

Sometime in there she became a wonderful singer. When Sheila and I wrote our vows and planned our wedding ceremony we definitely wanted her to sing. It was almost a Beth Shaw concert. She sang "Bridge Over Troubled Water", "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", and "Follow Me" -- yes it was a 70s wedding.

Now, sixty-seven years after that day in December 1954 when Mother held that pretty little baby up to the window, Sharlyn Beth Shaw is going through some rough times. But she is a strong and determined woman, and she will do it. 

I thought this would be good time to share some random pictures of her and hers; maybe she will enjoy seeing these during her recovery.

Glamorous Beth -- High School?

Outside Tallahassee heights United Methodist Church, August 8, 1971, immediately after our wedding.

The bride...

...with Mother...

... and Daddy.

Lyn and Steve holding Matthew, Josh, and Andrew.

Watching Josh with his cousin Andrew.

Steve putting devil's horns on Beth.

I love these two shots...

...I wish they were better exposed.

Singing to David's accompaniment at Mother & Daddy's 45th anniversary celebration.

Baby Josh trying out his walking skills in the hallway at the Trinity-Austell parsonage.

Beth with Amanda and Josh at Mexico Beach.

Beth, Josh and Amanda with me, Sheila, and Brannon...

... at the Coosa Valley Fair, 1984.

Cousins Brannon, Amanda & Josh...

...on the bench in our front yard on Cedar Avenue in Rome.

Brannon and Amanda with Grandshaw, 1986, just four days before Daddy's death.

Lillian's new uncle Chuck...

...gives her a ride on his motorcycle.

Then it was Jessica's turn.

The Perfect Seven with Mother

The Seven with Mother at Don's funeral.

Beth with Jan.

Celebrating with Mother at a book-signing at Barnes and noble in Rome. L-R: Beth, Debi, Mother, Carol, Joan, Terrell.

L-R: Mother, Beth, Amanda, Josh.

...and of course I could do another whole post on the next generation: Beth's five grandchildren.