The tree guy came today to give me a quote. He asked if I was in a hurry. I said I hoped to get it done before nesting season is underway.
And so the highly invasive Chinese pepper tree, the kids’ old climbing tree whose crotch is far too high now to get a foothold into and whose sticky sharp bark would shred a kid’s clothes in trying–as it did back then–and whose roots are doing damage, is going away tomorrow. It is less than my arm’s reach from the house. Its branches hang over it, a fire hazard that could get our insurance canceled. It’s time.
The new Kit Donnell peach will take its place. Far enough away from the fence. Far enough away from the house. Not too close to the fig. The arborist and I considered the thing and then marked the spot with a large rock.
We will have a living reminder of all those incredible peaches that Andy Mariani sold us of the variety that he and his late friend Kit created: the ones that were the most worth all of those drives to Morgan Hill and back on all those beautiful summer days.
They’ll be here now.
(Can you just hear the squirrels rubbing their paws in glee and going, Oh, it is ON!)