Bit off more than I bargained for!

The back fence party went on and on. They finally broke it off and went inside at somewhere beyond Three AM. This morning all the neighbors up and down our street were out discussing what could be done.

Seems that two of the folks had called the police, who refused to do anything or even call on the residence. They said since it is private property, that a complaint and a court order had to be in place before they would be able to do something. Do you believe that?

What was even more unsettling was that the party reconvened mid afternoon and they got loud all over again. More singing and loud whooping.

I had decided that today was plant a new tree day. In the back yard, where we have little in the way of landscaping.

I went to two nearby nurseries but ended up back over in Missouri at Suburban where I had purchased the evergreen a week ago.

The nursery is an experience in itself. It is on 25 or more acres, and is large enough that you see it by golf cart. The store is a huge greenhouse, but after going out the back you get issued your cart.

There are about eight more additional green houses and more fields full of trees and bushes. I drove at a leisurely pace and found the maple trees. On and off the cart finally selecting a specific tree. Driving back to the store with a tag from the tree, I made the purchase. This time with a merchandise pickup tag, I could drive my own truck out into nursery.

The two fellows couldn't speak a word of english, but understood exactly what the delivery ticket would require. They dug the tree out of the mulch with a forklift. That is when I began to understand I was in trouble. As they set the tree into the truck, it dropped on it's springs farther than it does with the loaded RV. Oh oh!

After I got home, I called my oldest son Chris and recruited the neighbor David, as the tree seemed to weigh atleast 500 pounds. Chris dropped it out of the truck by rolling it to the end of the gate, and it was all the three of us could do to drag it to the back yard. I had begun digging the hole while I waited for their arrival.

It took us over an hour to get the hole big enough to hold the root ball. The ground was wet and mostly clay so the digging was slow. Tonight the tree is in, the dirt is back over the top and the mulch covers the area like a bunch of pro's had worked at it. Those pro's are mostly sore though, as we never work that hard on a daily basis.

We had to go to the local bar and grill tonight, to help get our strength back, or you might say we were celebrating their aniversary, since that is today. Austin's is one of our favorie places here in Olathe.

Retired Rod