Looking back

by Kris Neri with the Femmes Fatales

We’re coming up on the one-year anniversary on our move to Silver City, New Mexico.

It’s been quite a year. Psychologists regard moves as one of the highest life stressors we can experience. I’d agree with that, although I’d say moving to a new town, where you know nobody, is harder still. And moving into a total fixer-upper pushes you beyond stress into the area of fearing you’ll go bald because you want to pull your hair out a thousand times a day. 

But, of course, I exaggerate. I still have my hair, though my scalp is a little sore.

I’m happy to report that we now know loads of people, having made lots of friends among the friendly people we’ve met here. Also, happily, the inside of our house is complete, as is the outside, to the extent of a new roof and paint-job. The landscaping still needs work, but with a sore scalp in mind, I’ve decided I’m comfortable with that taking longer.

We have a fair amount to do outside. We have a half-acre here. I know some people would consider that a minuscule property, including some of our neighbors who have multiple acres, but it’s actually the largest lot we’ve ever had.

There weren’t any flowers here when we bought it, and that’s some of what has to be addressed. But there are lots of trees.

I’m not terribly tree-conversant, although I know some on sight. I’m actually more knowledgeable about cacti and succulents, and then flowers, over trees. 

We do have some great junipers in our yard, and I’m quite familiar with them. Since we lived in Arizona for many years, and now have the same variety in New Mexico, they’re old friends.

Junipers give off such a feeling of sturdiness, and I love them for it. They’re so slow-growing that the big ones have been around for many hundreds of years. Native Americans often show their respect to junipers by calling them “grandfathers.”

On the downside, they release massive quantities of pollen several times a year. During bad juniper pollen spells, ERs everywhere fill up with people totally hobbled by sinus and allergy problems. Thankfully, they don’t bother me that much, so we’re still friends.

Given how large some of ours are, they could easily be 800-1000 years old. I like knowing that I get to spend a tiny part of their lives with them.

Gin lovers consider junipers a blessing, since their berries are used to produce gin. Since I think gin smells like bad cologne, you couldn’t pay me to drink it.

We also have a giant cottonwood. You see lots of cottonwoods in the Southwest, too. My favorite part of life with them comes when they release their cottonish-flowers. With a good breeze, it looks like a cotton blizzard.

There’s one tree on our property that we have yet to identify, though I suspect it’s
some kind of mimosa, given its leaves. We’re not particularly good at identifying them, even with Google’s help. 

We came here last May, while our houses in both states were still in escrow, to measure some parts of this house. At that time, that tree didn’t have a single bud on it, though they’d sprouted everywhere else.

I asked the former owner whether it was dead. He said it wasn’t, insisting it was a late bloomer. Naturally, being a cynical character, I didn’t believe him. I thought for sure it was dead, and figured we’d be stuck with the cost of removing it. To my surprise, he didn’t lie. It did prove to be quite a late bloomer, and it kept its leaves late as well, through November. 

I’m glad we didn’t have to pay to remove it, of course, but mostly, I’m glad it’s still where it was. It will be a perfect anchor to the desert garden we want to create when we summon a little more energy.

We recently had another fear that we’d have to remove another tree, but that was just a matter of not having sufficient tree knowledge. A giant white oak’s leaves suddenly turned yellow this spring. Did that mean it was dying? I did notice that the leaves of other white oaks had also turned, but maybe, I feared, they were all dying.

We worried too soon. Within weeks, it dropped those leaves, grew lovely flowers, which quickly transformed into new leaves. The message with trees might be, “Wait a bit.”

There are others, too. Maples, and one I simply thought of a the tree meant to hold the birdseed and hummingbird feeders. 

Maybe with so many, I do need some tree education. Or maybe it’s enough that I simply enjoy sharing a space with them.

What’s your favorite part of your home?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trust No One: New on Kindle / only $.99: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PDHZBHT

The Rose in the Snow: New on Kindle / only $ .99: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QP11K4D

Comments

[Mark]

One of my favorite things? Not having to deal with yard work since I live in a condo. I kill so many plants this is a very good thing.

[krisneri]

Mark, I get that. I remain hopeful when it comes to new plants, but I've killed so many, too.

[Deb Romano]

Like Mark, I live in a condo. I like that I can grow tomatoes, herbs, flowers on my deck, and that someone else is responsible for maintaining the grounds. I like to sit on the deck and read in the summer, especially when everything growing on the deck is in full glory!

[Toni]

Hey, Kris! Did you know that Rick and I bought our house 4.5 years ago and had it renovated, inside and out, except for the kitchen, which Rick’s been building ever since we moved in? Oh, girl, I totally get that “pulling out your hair” thing! We lived in our 17’ Casita Travel Trailer in the backyard while the renovations were made, March-August, and moved into the house in August of 2015. Then this year we added a screened porch onto the back of the house. Although I love all of our little house, I think maybe having my morning coffee on the porch, and having the French doors open to the porch on these perfect spring days might be the part I love most about my house.
The landscaping will wait until next year. Or maybe I’ll insist that the kitchen be completed before any more projects get started!

[krisneri]

Deb, that sounds heavenly!

[krisneri]

Toni, I think you're my hero. I couldn't do what you've been doing. In CA, we lived in an RV for a year while our house was being restored after an earthquake, and I still remember how much Joe complained about living that small. Your porch sounds heavenly! Good luck with getting Rick to finish your kitchen.

[Cath]

You never fail to educate me Jris! Who knew the story behind junipers? We’ve been living in our home that we built and I know how you feel about the move then pulling your hair out. We still need landscaping but it continues to take a backseat on our list. Glad to hear how you enjoy it as well as having local friends! 💕

[krisneri]

Thanks, Cath. I'm glad I'm not the only one who needs to do some landscaping. I'm all for letting it slide for a while, too.