September 01, 2006
The Ficus in My Yard
When I got home from work yesterday, I found that the County had butchered the ficus in my back yard. It was a depressing site to see after a long and somewhat frustrating day.
I sat there in the yard staring at what has always been basically the central focus of our backyard, now all cut up and dishevelled. For over an hour, sitting there staring at the tree, I watched as dozens and dozens of birds flapped around, back and forth, over and under, around and around, through the remaining limbs and leaves, looking for their nests or just their little spots where they perched each night to wait for morning.
It angers me to no end that Miami-Dade County prefers to pay some contractor who knows how much money to come out and systematically destroy all the vegetation along the canal bank when a little bit of preventive maintenance is all that's needed. A trim here, a trim there. That's it. Instead, they come out once in a blue moon and just chop everything down with prejudice. Bureaucratic bastards.
Posted by Val Prieto at September 1, 2006 07:13 AM
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Comments
Val,
I certainly had a lot of sympathy when I read your comments about the ficus. We lived in Okla. and had a beautiful fence planted with fast growing firs. Well, someone thought they were going to interfere with the power lines above, even though they were far away from them. I asked and yes, they were contractors eager to finish ASAP. When I came home from work at 4:30, I watched angry and dismayed, all my firs trimmed down to look like mini-firs. "We had to do it because the winds here are very strong and a branch might touch the lines".
We lost the sight of the firs swaying in the breeze each afternoon when I came home and sat in the back yard reading or listening to a nice Symphony with a glass of wine.
Posted by: Cubamoto ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.babalublog.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at September 1, 2006 08:28 AM
Val,
I'm sorry about your tree. Plant another one, it will grow.
BabaluBlog is my first read of the day. When you are writing about your family, national issues or international issues, you are THE BEST.
Our family doesn't have alot of money or a new car. From time to time individuals, society, or the government mess with us. But, I thank God that he decided to put me here in America and not in Haiti, Cuba, China, etc.
I will pitch in $5 bucks towards a new tree for you. I mean this sincerely. Email me an address I can send it to and I will have it in the mail this weekend.
Just please quit bitching and get back in the fight. We need your voice.
Posted by: Ed Morrow at September 1, 2006 08:33 AM
come on val....you've been dealing with the county long enough to know that incompetence abounds......the good news is that luckily, trees will once again grow.
Posted by: Tony V at September 1, 2006 08:43 AM
If it's any comfort, Ficus trees are very fast growers so you should start seeing the canopy grow back before you know it.
Posted by: Robert at September 1, 2006 10:27 AM
Val:
Sorry, there seems to a human condition in some people that fears trees and woods. I call these types Arboricides.
take care and be well
Larry
Posted by: Larry Daley at September 1, 2006 01:06 PM
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