Good Morning Oppo

Illustration for article titled Good Morning Oppo

The view from my “office” window this morning is decidedly gray. I’m hoping for some sun this afternoon and temps close to 50, that’ll be nice. I’ve found that my most productive hour is 7:30 - 8:30 when my kids are full from breakfast and well-rested, so I’m able to sit down nearly uninterrupted and check in with work, maybe even accomplish something, all before most of my colleagues are “in.”

Advertisement

In car-related news, I ordered a floor jack from Harbor Freight last night, it’ll be my first HF purchase ever! I went with a low-profile, rapid pump model; not the aluminum, because I just don’t plan on moving this thing all that much. I have another little jack that’s always worked fine, it just doesn’t really have the height to lift the Volvo properly, let alone my truck. So I can carry that little one when I need to bring a jack somewhere farther than my driveway. I was going to change out my snows for my summers on the Volvo but now I’ll wait until this thing comes in. Besides, the Volvo is just sitting now anyway.

Side note: you can tell in the picture how I’ve been saving evergreen trees while cutting lots of deciduous. I’ve always loved the feel of an evergreen forest, and it’s easier to keep the brush down. Plus if there are things we DON’T want to see in our view (there are), they will block those things nicely year-round. I’m planning on planting lots of various evergreens on the lower part of the clearing on the right side of the pic.

Advertisement

The biggest hemlock in the picture, just to the left of the shed and the only one whose top is way above the distant horizon, I’m afraid isn’t going to last. The logging road cut through a bunch of its roots; I was crushed to see that. If it dies, it’ll expose a VERY tall poplar to the full brunt of the northwest wind, especially in light of the new clearing, so I think that’ll have to come down too. However, that’ll put the trees that are even closer to the house, directly into the line of fire. So we’ll see. That’s a few years out anyway, I think.

Back to work!