Easy Does It?

As I've written about before, we are removing a large tree from our backyard. What I haven't written is how big of a project it is turning out to be. Despite my somewhat undersized chainsaw, I finally got the last of the trunk cut up and drug out to the curbside to be picked up. This morning, I turned my attention to the stump. What makes this stump particularly difficult is that whenever our fence was built it was done so right over top of where the tree was growing. As a result, there's not much wiggle room to move a chainsaw around without taking a section of fence with it. I had to carefully carve out around the fence with a reciprocating saw. As I fought the stump into sections, I could definitely tell the intense Texas sun was shining today. The calendar says its another 3 weeks or so until the start of summer, but I'd have to disagree! As I finished up for the morning (with parts of the stump still intact, might I add) I began to feel a little dizzy. After I came inside and cleaned up and began making lunch, I started seeing spots. By the end of the meal, I had a headache, pains and a sensitivity to light. I slid off to bed, and that's where I stayed- I even called in sick to work. I'm always getting on to Atarah to drink more water when she's working out in the yard. After all, I tell her, dehydration is a serious matter. I know I was pushing it and tried to get done without taking a break; and I paid for it. Whatever you are outside this summer, don't repeat my mistake- make sure you and the ones your with have adequate shade, water and resources to be out in the sun.

Work Shoes

If someone asked me what my work shoes looked like, I doubt they'd expect my answer. Out of all the intensive work I've ever gotten done, the vast majority of it was in what seems to be my favorite work shoes: flip-flops. Don't get me wrong; I have a perfectly good pair of sneakers and work boots. I think my departure from normal work shoes stems from the spare of the moment way an idea will strike. We could be in the yard or store or anywhere for that matter, minding our own business and just like that inspiration will strike. I've textured a ceiling, dug countless holes, climbed trees and now even cut a tree down, all with the help of my trusty work shoe flip-flops. Its funny how some things work out, even if they don't seem like they would on the surface.

The Palm Tree That Isn't

As part of our ongoing project in the backyard, we decided to plant several palm trees. Palm trees grow vertically and require very little care once established, not to mention they provide an inviting and tropical look to almost any area. Not all palm trees are created equal, however, and we were surprised just how different some are. While digging around online, I saw a website that said something along the lines of, “Watch out for fake palm trees!” and had a picture of, among other plants, a Sago palm much like the one we have out front. Confused, I investigated further- after all, palm is right in the plant's name! As it turns out, a Sago palm is indeed not a palm. A Sago palm tree is part of the Cycas plant species, and although visually quite similar, the only thing a palm tree and a cycas plant have in common is that they both come from seeds. Even though I was at first a little disappointed, it turns out that growing a cycas tree is like growing a little part of history- fossil records show the Sago palm dating back to the early Permian period, 280 million years ago, while some species go back all the way to the late Carboniferous period; that's roughly 325 million years old and is much older than dinosaurs! In addition, each plant can take 100 years to reach full size and some individual specimens are well over 1,00 years old. So, while our Sago palm tree really isn't, it is a very cool look at what trees used to be many millennia ago.

Learning Hebrew

Learning Hebrew with Atarah Shalom, Published June 2016 is available online.

Blue Java banana tree

We made the decision to finally buy a banana tree and although there are many types available, we didn't want some monster tree taking over the yard nor did we want a run-of-the-mill Cavendish (which is the type of banana that you can buy literally everywhere). We researched and researched and set out to find one of the few varieties we deemed appropriate. Braving the wind and the rain, we finally found what we were looking for. We settled on a Blue Java banana tree, more commonly know as the “Ice Cream” banana tree. The blue part of the name refers to the silvery-blue color of the bananas as they ripen, and the ice cream part refers to the white flesh of the fruit and the vanilla ice cream like taste and texture of the ripe banana. The plant grows quickly to a full grown size of 8-10' and produces lots and lots of fruit. We are excited to see what happens with this strange and interesting banana tree!

Midnight Marvel Hibiscus

This is a picture of our Midnight Marvel Hibiscus. If you are one of the few who were able to purchase one of these when they were available, you may be interested to know what's happened with ours. Earlier this spring, we noticed the plant was having some difficulty growing, which is highly unusual for Hibiscus in this area (we have 12 of them, after all). After doing some digging online, we discovered that this species of Hibiscus has only been propagated since 2012 and is extremely rare and hard to come by. The leaves are supposed to be a deep purple color, but if you notice in this picture they are green tinged- this means the plant was not receiving enough UV from the sun. We just moved it to a much sunnier area, and although the plant has dramatically reduced in size, it also seems substantially happier and I'm happy to say is growing rather quickly.

What Does It Mean To Honor?

My dad recently said to me that I don't honor him. This made me wonder and ask myself, “What is honor?” “What does it mean to honor?”. It is also written that we are to “honor the Lord”. In Hebrew, “honor” is the word “כָּבַד / kavad” which means “to carry weight, to weigh in”. This denotes value and a place of priority.

As parents we should be people who are worthy of this honor. We should be respectable, God fearing parents that reflect God and His Words. If we are not doing this, there is no reason for our words to carry weight in our child’s life, especially once they are grown.