"There are countless horrible things happening all over the world and horrible people prospering, but we must never allow them to disturb our equanimity or deflect us from our sacred duty to sabotage and annoy them whenever possible." -Auberon Waugh
Tuesday, September 1, 2020
And now, a word from our sponsor
5 comments:
bruce
said...
That's nice at the end when they dim the inside lights to watch the city lights. Trust Hollywood people to focus on lighting effects.
I live in a 1960s-style house, but mine was cheaper made with cinder blocks and a flat roof which floods if the drainage isn't right. It survived the '78 bushfire which went right over us (before my time) and killed people in the next block though, a good point for me every fire season.
The first house we ever bought was a cinder-block, single-story, stucco job in Miami, Florida. The roof wasn't flat (thank goodness) and the little house withstood several hurricanes over the years (it stands there, still, based on a Google search). Loved that place: a half acre, completely fenced-in backyard (chain-link), filled with native and exotic fruit trees (avocado, tangelo, nispero, lychee, mango and several other varieties). A vine with beautiful red trumpet flowers grew along one side of the fence. You could break a shoot off a hibiscus, stick it in the ground, and have a brand new plant in a week or two. Gardenias, jasmine vines...I don't think I ever would have left Miami, if the banking industry I then worked in hadn't changed so radically, with constant mergers and bank failures. I wound up working in a job, and for people, I detested, so we left. Sure miss the place.
My place is overrun with jasmine vines which are just starting to bloom (it's Spring here, smell of jasmine is one of the best things about it). But its a struggle to keep them from destroying every other plant or tree by overpowering.
Sounds like you had a nice place in Florida. Wife's sister lives in a small cottage on a long street in Miami and I don't think it's near as nice as what you describe. 'Oh how you can get stucco!'
Our house was nothing special. I think it had been built in the mid-60s (we bought it in 1985). Just a little 3/2, rectangular-shaped house with a one-car garage. We made some improvements to it - tiled floor and new cabinets and counters in the kitchen, and we redid one of the bathrooms - was it was pretty run of the mill. But here's something you'll certainly be able to relate to, Bruce: we had an enormous melaleuca tree in one corner of the yard which we had removed. The things have become something of a pest in Florida, and it's my understanding that they're real fire hazards; in fact, I think I read somewhere that the leaves are so full of oil that, during a fire, the crowns will literally explode. Didn't really fancy that! I remember seeing substantial stands of these trees along one of the highways in Dade County that created what looked to be an almost impenetrable little forest.
Oh a paperbark tree? We have a 15-20 feet high one of those. Thing is they adapted to fire so much they WANT to burn, and hence the paper bark (which protects the innards cos it burns in a certain way and then promotes regrowth). Sort of Stockholm syndrome tree.
But most of our trees are like that, shedding bark or leaves which dry out (full of oil) into inviting bonfire stacks around the trunk. I use the shedded bark of the huge Ghost Gum out front as starter fuel in my living room heater.
5 comments:
That's nice at the end when they dim the inside lights to watch the city lights. Trust Hollywood people to focus on lighting effects.
I live in a 1960s-style house, but mine was cheaper made with cinder blocks and a flat roof which floods if the drainage isn't right. It survived the '78 bushfire which went right over us (before my time) and killed people in the next block though, a good point for me every fire season.
The first house we ever bought was a cinder-block, single-story, stucco job in Miami, Florida. The roof wasn't flat (thank goodness) and the little house withstood several hurricanes over the years (it stands there, still, based on a Google search). Loved that place: a half acre, completely fenced-in backyard (chain-link), filled with native and exotic fruit trees (avocado, tangelo, nispero, lychee, mango and several other varieties). A vine with beautiful red trumpet flowers grew along one side of the fence. You could break a shoot off a hibiscus, stick it in the ground, and have a brand new plant in a week or two. Gardenias, jasmine vines...I don't think I ever would have left Miami, if the banking industry I then worked in hadn't changed so radically, with constant mergers and bank failures. I wound up working in a job, and for people, I detested, so we left. Sure miss the place.
My place is overrun with jasmine vines which are just starting to bloom (it's Spring here, smell of jasmine is one of the best things about it). But its a struggle to keep them from destroying every other plant or tree by overpowering.
Sounds like you had a nice place in Florida. Wife's sister lives in a small cottage on a long street in Miami and I don't think it's near as nice as what you describe. 'Oh how you can get stucco!'
Our house was nothing special. I think it had been built in the mid-60s (we bought it in 1985). Just a little 3/2, rectangular-shaped house with a one-car garage. We made some improvements to it - tiled floor and new cabinets and counters in the kitchen, and we redid one of the bathrooms - was it was pretty run of the mill. But here's something you'll certainly be able to relate to, Bruce: we had an enormous melaleuca tree in one corner of the yard which we had removed. The things have become something of a pest in Florida, and it's my understanding that they're real fire hazards; in fact, I think I read somewhere that the leaves are so full of oil that, during a fire, the crowns will literally explode. Didn't really fancy that! I remember seeing substantial stands of these trees along one of the highways in Dade County that created what looked to be an almost impenetrable little forest.
Oh a paperbark tree? We have a 15-20 feet high one of those. Thing is they adapted to fire so much they WANT to burn, and hence the paper bark (which protects the innards cos it burns in a certain way and then promotes regrowth). Sort of Stockholm syndrome tree.
But most of our trees are like that, shedding bark or leaves which dry out (full of oil) into inviting bonfire stacks around the trunk. I use the shedded bark of the huge Ghost Gum out front as starter fuel in my living room heater.
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