More mulch

I headed south with a huge load of mulch, feeling pretty good. I resisted the urge to yell out at the border patrol checkpoint as I went breezing by. I wanted to say, "I'm winning!" But I figured they wouldn't understand and might chase me down.

By the time I got the mulch unloaded and spread, I wasn't so chirpy anymore. At 100° it didn't feel like I was winning either. More like delusional.

I should explain that when I first planted my trees starting in 1996 I mulched as much as I could. I didn't have the great mulch I have now, and with the oasis pretty barren, most of it blew away or was rooted up by wildlife. Then, through the years, the trees made a pretty nice canopy of shade so I got remiss in mulching. But this year, what with the drought, then record cold, then record heat, very few trees are lush enough to shade the ground. That wouldn't be so bad if it never got over 100° as is the case most years. But months of triple-digit heat and sparse canopy cover means the situation is compounded as the ground beneath the trees sizzle. So the mulch helps insulate the tree roots from the heat. Of course I should have done this months ago, but I didn't know about this great mulch, and kept thinking it would rain any day.

So now I have a headache (probably dehydrated) to go with my chronic blisters. No time today to water or watch birds. Tomorrow I'm going to just recover, then help band hummers in the Davis Mountains the next day. Then back to the oasis to water everything. When I can fit it in I want to get more mulch, though everything now has some under it.