I thought that I published this post days ago. Since then it’s rained and melted and the tree has slumped over. but it was a good effort.
Today M’s soccer game was perhaps her most fun to watch ever. The other team scored two goals right away and frankly it looked like it could be ugly. Then M scored, and scored again, and another teammate scored. Then it became downright comical, because even when M didn’t manage to get the ball into the goal she’d run right up to the goal and practically into the poor goalie’s face and give her a fierce-and-scary look. She actually does look fierce and scary. It’s especially funny because when Cute W first started coaching and the kids were little, he’d tell the goalies to growl–literally growl–and yell, “My ball!” because he thought that it put them in that aggressive I-want-it mode. She was totally in that mode, and with 7 seconds to go she scored her third goal of the game. So that was fun. And now we’re hunched over a nail biter because Cute W is a huge Broncos fan. If serving food could win a playoff game, they’d be all set, because we’ve got the Buffalo Chicken Dip, nuts, ice cream, cheese, and margaritas. It’s not a super-health day, but, as I said, you don’t watch a playoff game every day. Anyway, here’s that post from days ago.
I finally got the tree done. A few days ago, I noticed that someone else in our neighborhood had propped their old Christmas tree upright in the snow. I liked it: you could almost pretend it was just growing there, which, even if it is delusional, is still more cheerful than seeing a tree slumped on the snow like over-sized garbage. At the time, I figured that I’d do it.
It turns out that it was more challenging than I’d anticipated. I lifted and placed it, but I didn’t have a strong enough base. It fell over, and as I picked it up, the lower branches showered me with snow. I tried setting it down more decisively, and it teetered and fell. Exasperated, I stomped off to the garage for a shovel. When I got back, I stepped without the extraordinary care that was required and I sank. Deep.
I thought that this was going to be easy, so I’d worn my sloppy slip-on shoes. Thus, at the risk of overdosing on alliteration, I sank in the snow while shoveling in my sloppy slip-on shoes.
Cars slowed a bit, it seemed, to observe my slightly nutty actions. It didn’t take too much time shoveling to get the tree placed upright in the snowbank. Then. . . triumph. I felt almost as triumphant as I felt silly. Then I stepped away, leaving one of the shoes behind. I had to scrabble through the snow to find the shoe. By that time I was headed up the driveway with the shovel, both shoes were so full of snow that it was ridiculous. I kicked them off and walked up the driveway in my socks.
Then I decided that I had to document my only-a-little-bit-leaning tree. M ran into my shot. And then the camera battery died. Whatever. I have my living room back, and when people drive past the tree, they can be charmed instead of depressed.
You’re welcome, neighbors.
