Nose to the grindstone

I so wanted to go enjoy the Nutting's Flycatcher today knowing that many of my friends would be there. But I needed to go haul water to the oasis. On the way down there from Alpine I heard on the radio that there was a 40% chance of rain Monday. It was hard to turn off on the Terlingua Ranch Road and not keep heading south towards Santa Elena Canyon and the rare flycatcher. I tried to convince myself it would rain so I didn't need to water. But of course "myself" knew better. I finally decided the best way to make it rain would be to water everything thoroughly. A modern-day rain dance, I guess.

I felt bittersweet about missing the action when I learned the bird didn't show up until 2 PM, when most people had already given up. But if I had to miss the fun, I resolved to get a lot accomplished as a consolation. After hauling 3 loads of water and watering everything, I spread a little mulch, then tried to prune a huge limb from a cottonwood tree about 15' above the ground. I was up in that tree slaving until it got too dark to see, then I headed back to Alpine. The limb is interfering with a mulberry tree that came up by itself underneath. I'd rather have the mulberry than that limb. I'm trying to cut one fork of the limb so the whole thing won't crash down on the mulberry tree at once. Next time I go down there I'll finish the job. It has to be done this month because that tree leafs out in February usually. (It didn't last February because of the record cold.)