monster task, monster, monster bush

Friday I headed over to the shop yard with cart, hoe, and loppers determined to git 'er done. It took me less than two hours I think but man, that section had some monstrous roots; big, thick, long, ropy roots. 

where I left off

finished

The only reason I was able to do it at all is because all that dirt is not the dirt the ground around here consists of. This is bought high quality garden soil, about 8 yards or so, loose sandy loam which made it so easy to hoe it out and pull roots loose. Well, easier. It would have been an impossible task for a person with a hoe and loppers if it was our heavy clingy clayey dirt. I wished many times that I could shovel it up into a wheelbarrow and use it in the low spots at home. But all those roots made that just a pipe dream.

I'm glad I got it all done Friday because the weather did turn colder today and the next four days with overcast or rain, highs in the 50s, lows in the 40s until next Thursday when the low is predicted to plunge to 21˚. This does not make me happy. The banana trees will freeze to the ground, the ginger will too but then it does even with a moderate freeze. The porterweed will have to be cut back and covered and it may still die but that's OK as I've potted up several volunteers, the pink and yellow angel trumpet will have to be cut back drastically so I can cover them though I may be able to get the pink in the house and of course the yellow has started blooming for the first time this year. I'll have to bring in the begonias, cover the ponytail palm but all the foliage will still die off...again. Will have to cover the bird of paradise and the bougainvillea and the gardenia. Fuck! And I hope to all the powers that be that the brand new water pipes in the shop don't explode like they did last year. I'll have to do a better job of draining them. I'm still hoping against hope that as we get closer they'll revise the low upwards.

----------

I'm sure we've all seen by now the Major Announcement by Trump on Thursday for his NFT digital trading cards, for which he has been roundly mocked, showing him as a superhero and other ridiculous comic book depictions of him all tough, buff, and muscular (and if you haven't seen his video announcement, it is hilarious) which could be purchased with cryptocurrency or credit card. I had to google NFTs which are supposed to be connected to blockchain (which I don't really understand) which is supposed to make them secure and uncopyable, like your domain name. Apparently NFTs are becoming very popular for original content by artists of all genres. What I did find out is that first you have to establish a digital wallet, then when you purchase your NFT it is sent to your digital wallet from which you can access the image or game or video or music or writing or whatever. This makes sense to me if what you purchased is a game or video or music or even essays or other writing that you would need a device for to use but not for digital art. At least for me. I tried to find out if you could print out your digital art you purchased to have a hard copy but I haven't been able to determine this yet. I gather not. Personally, if I buy a piece of art, even if it is a ridiculous trading card, I want to be able to hang it on my wall where I can see it ll the time. Instead, I assume, the only way to gaze upon your purchase is through a device when you go to your digital wallet. The other thing about NFTs is that as an investment, you can resell it but 10% of the sale price goes back to the original creator (which for artists is a good thing) and there would probably be a fee from whatever platform you use to sell it on.

According to the site through which these cards could be purchased, they sold out 45,000 for $99 each in less than 24 hours, which I find extremely hard to believe, and the percentage of the purchase price that goes to Trump, however much that is depending on the licensing agreement he signed, goes straight into his personal pocket. At any rate, the site now says sold out. Here's a link to a very good article, Trump's Trading Card Grift Is Worse Than You Think by Kurt Eichenwald, about how it all works, who is behind it, etc. To say that the whole thing is very hinky is putting it mildly. Speculation is that sales were not by individuals who probably didn't understand what they were buying or how to access it (and Allison posted some tweets about that) so much as big money players supporting Trump's divisiveness in American society. They see a divided America as a weak America.

----------

So to end with something a little more uplifting here's a picture of the monster heritage rose bush blooming now.