Rescue Rescue Work

This weekend is probably the last really great one for ksquest Plant Rescues.

The Plant Rescue Department has been busy indeed.

The Debris Removal squads have been, too. Sometimes I'm only a couple driveways ahead of them at a really good pile of Neat Stuff.

So satisfying.

Yesterday I wandered into a part of my town where we almost bought when we were house-hunting. Nice character - true of virtually all of my town - and on the water. We finally decided against waterfront, partly due to cost and mosquitoes, partly due to hating the noise and rudeness and wanton beer can-tossing pollution of so many water travelers.

Going in there now, I saw that some fine huge cypresses had come down, and this always makes us sad.

Various neighbors were out working. The vegetation clearing is ongoing still, in a big way; you just can't do it all in a short time. They're curious about what I'm doing. I explain I'm a Plant Rescuer and, as usual, this makes them interested and glad. They point out various places for me to find air plants and beautiful cypress to mount them. We swap war stories.

One very sweet gentleman sent me around his house on a yard tour - another frequent occurrence. He was just a roomie, lived there a few months, so he wasn't as familiar with many of our tropical plants in his yard. But he sure recognized what he had, the quality of the homeowner's landscaping design.

They're on the water, and even had a few mangroves. Their stilt roots are a wondrous sight. Two big cypresses were still downed and uncut, just trimmed so far. Huge bamboo, gingers, a jillion great species of shrubs and flowers and all in a lush but walkable layout. It's hard to get that effect right, to do "lush" but not "intimidating jungle." I was really impressed.

We see this all torn up and grieve.

I picked up all their downed airplants, and taught them how to remount them, themselves. It's really easy. Most folks I talk to just don't understand how much vegetation they can save. All told, it's generally less labor and less time-consuming than chainsawing things and toting them to the debris pile on the swale.

I'm slowing down some. I'm feeling the physical strain of all this. So instead of collecting any wood I'm concentrating on just plants, which are less costly to me physically.

OTOH -- just as I was making my final run at the end of the day, I came across the tidiest stack of mixed oak and plumeria. They were cut into very regular smallish bits and carefully laid out. How could I walk away from such an easy stash? Into the Saturn they went.

Where they await me this morning.

Time to unload and head back out.