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Disagreement


Generally speaking, Mike and I are quite compatible.  That doesn’t mean that we agree about most things, (HA! Far from it!) but we politely agree to disagree.  As I often tell him, he does have the right to be wrong.  So if he wants to watch some black and white movie about World War I with closed captioning, I simply watch something on my television with the sound on.

Since it is grilling season in Vermont, he likes to have hamburgers, hot dogs, and steaks a whole lot more than I.  But he can grill his meat selection and I’ll make something heavy on the vegetarian side.  Right now, I am in a spicy lentil salad loop.  I made up a big batch—meal planning solved for the week.

However, we are never going to agree about this:
oh 002
Our yard is pretty open and sunny.  About 18 years ago this tree was a little sprout next to the wood shed.  It is a box elder.  In my mind this is a weed tree.  I wanted to pull it up right away, but Mike said he wanted to let it grow so we would have shade on the deck for sunny summer afternoons.

I am not against a shade tree.  I would have been happy to go to a nursery and purchase a nice shade tree that we could then have planted—oh, I don’t know--maybe fifteen or twenty feet out into the lawn.  But no.  That would present a mowing obstacle.
tree 1I
I think you can see that the tree in its growing disrupted the mow edge and lifted the floor of the wood shed.  Mike does trim this tree so at least it has not damaged the roof of the shed.

And messy.  Please.  The shedding seeds in the spring are followed by leaves all summer long that yellow and fall.  The yellow leaves are not even noticeable on the tree until fall, but they cover the roof, the deck and breezeway for most of the summer.

Although it does host all manner of song birds, it is an ugly tree.  We are going to continue to agree to disagree about this one.  I do wish we owned a chain saw.  I wish I had an accident with the weed whacker years ago.

P.S.  Mike informed me that he also hates the tree, but is remaining where it is because of the shade and the bird entertainment...and its lack of disruption to his mowing pattern.

Comments

  1. "Agreeing to Disagree" is smart. I can't imagine people expecting to agree on everything. I'm a big believer in carefully choosing your battles. Most differences are not that important.

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  2. I'm going to stay out of this one, it could become serious.

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  3. OK, I'm on my way with the chainsaw AND an umbrella for the deck! I do know what you mean about the 'agreeing,' though. I bite my tongue quite often!
    Peace,
    Muff

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  4. I love it! Agree to disagree, indeed.
    I disagreed with hubby about low branches on our trees. I suggested I cut them as I didn't want to be decapitated whilst riding the lawn tractor. He said he'd think about it.
    I took off one branch. A week later, another.
    He didn't really notice, and I am not decapitated!

    Love the sparrow and the other stories.
    Enjoy my visits here.
    Greetings from Cottage Country!

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  5. You and Mike are wise to agree to disagree on this. Even if that tree got cut down now, the roots would still be doing what they're doing to the shed...
    In these days of extreme heat, do not underestimate ANY KIND OF TREE for the shade and breeze value!

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  6. It sounds all-too-familiar. But I'm glad to see that someone else has arguments over trees and World War I movies. (Did you see "War Horse"? Not the best; but at least it wasn't black and white!)

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  7. Well you actually do mostly agree on the tree, just not on its right to stay.

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  8. LOL post! I like the idea of getting a chain saw and an umbrella. We had a box elder tree when I was growing up and I remember how messy they were -- and then there always the box elder bug infestations we would get. Ewwww.

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  9. I think every gardener makes a mistake they end up living with somehow. A more recent one of mine is allowing a regular size cherry tree to continue growing when I thought it was a miniature. I try to keep it well trimmed.

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