le grande experimente

Several years ago, over my wife's luke warm acceptance, I purchased two Haraldson apple trees.  I like Haraldson apples.  I like apple pie.  The only problem was, you had to pick the apples and prepare the apples and store the apples and that was just two steps more than I really cared for.  Besides which, we only had an apple crop every other year.  But the trees grew.  And I trimmed.  And they grew.  This year, we had an amazing spring bloom on the trees.  If every bloom turned into an apple, we would have enough to feed the universe.  Well, maybe the block.  Anyhow, for some reason, this season the apples chose not to stay on the tree.  Every day I would pick up 50-100 apples.  Okay, says I.  Mother Nature knows best.  Apparently she was saving only the really good ones, and since there were so many....  Not necessarily so.  The ones on the tree were ugly, pocked, and apparently attractive to the birds and the bees (no, not the rabbit action I have referenced earlier--the real birds and bees.)  Uncle, says I.  And today, with great resolve (and absolutely no remorse!) the trees began there long trek to fireplace wood for the neighbors to the South.  Hot today.  Sultry.  Old am I.  Tire easily.  The denuding and destruction are obviously going to be a multi-day project.  But we got started.  After clearing a bunch of lower branches, I came across what can only be described as a freak of nature.  Picture the branches, gracefully reaching toward the sky.  Picture the a-symmetrical shape of the tree.  And then, if you can't picture it...

a right angle!  An honest to god, almost 90 degree right angle.  Now that was a branch with an attitude!  I liked it.  It will be a shame to cut it down.  Not!  But it did cause a little bit of conversation, and this is almost always a great thing.  Tomorrow, it may be fire wood.  Or the next day.  We'll see when the spirit and the body are in sync.