The backyard maple is still with us, megadrought be damned.
The arborista with the tree service we use recently sent out a customer-tips newsletter about balancing responsible water use and tree care. Top of her list? “Plant better trees.”
The trend has been hotter and drier for many years. I don’t see drought conditions going away. There are plenty of shade trees that are not water-hogs and many desert trees that complement your landscapes. Cottonwood and maple are so out of fashion in drought conditions.
Sigh. Naturally, we’ve got this doddering old maple that endures an amputation or six every fall. And there’s a giant-ass cottonwood across the arroyo.
We had a beautiful maple in the front yard back in Bibleburg. Field Marshal Turkish von Turkenstein (commander, 1st Feline Defense Regiment) loved that tree, when he was still an indoor-outdoor cat. He’d take up a position in the crotch of it and make himself look even longer than he was, like a giant furry albino alligator.
Once a killer hailstorm hit that tree like Spooky working out with its Vulcan minigun. Maple-leaf salad all over the front yard and porch. Tree bounced right back, maybe even better than ever.
But it rains and snows in the B-burg. Or it used to, anyway. A tree can get a little love up there, whether it’s Earth Day or not.
Mad Blog Media 
Nice image with good color. Something that invokes an “Out of Albuquerque” description to me. I know you have a lion around the place somewhere. Say Hi to Meyrl for me. I suppose though, that thinking of you I’d need to revise the cast and have Jack Nicholson (kind of like in Goin’ South) as the costar.
I hope your bastion of physique-ness is recovering and you are back on the move.
Every day should be Earth Day. I don’t like these once a year things, another of which is Bike To Work Day. Makes it seem like on the other 364.24 days one can say “Fuck it, start the Hummer and go out for a big steak”. And too often, that’s the case.