Updates

Of a sort., but not very exciting, I’m afraid. Pathetic, really. The giant century plant bloomed from bottom to top, not all at once like the fluffy yellow ones I saw via googling. Plus, it’s impossible to shoot because it’s silhouetted against the sky and you’d need a 20’ ladder to get close enough to overcome the glare issues. Or a better camera. On a walk today, we saw that it was blooming at the top; in the earlier image above (which came out better), the flowers are more toward the middle.

And here’s what happened with the tree I was hoping would be saved.

Apparently, although the tree suffered very little damage from the storm, the arborist, whose report I have seen, found that its largest branch was much weakened by an infestation and would have to be removed before it fell on the house. This, in addition to other removals, would greatly weaken the tree and all the expense of the trimming would fall on the owners. The city cut it down for free, using the FEMA money. (Always the way. Like we have a demolition fund but not a restoration fund for endangered buildings.)


On the bright side, I have noticed that people are using stumps for planters. (FEMA won’t pay for their removal, though supposedly somebody—maybe Hillary Clinton—is working on that.)