Actually nothing is dying here! We're planting a LOT! THAT is part of "the things we do for love". Larry actually is involved ONLY for love because -- it turns out -- he has ended up feeling more overwhelmed by my efforts to relieve some of his stress.
A friend has been helping me with some backed-up yard work that Larry hasn't had time for because of the stresses of his work. I just wanted to help him out! So she and I planted and organized and rearranged, all with the intent of making it nice, having a great time doing it together, and hoping for his pleasure in one job he didn't have to do for himself.
He had taken down a monstrous tree that was diseased and dead, all the while grieving that a huge old shade tree would be gone, and it will take tens of years for its shade to be reproduced(...the things you do for love...).
The stump grinder came and spent a good part of an hour grinding this one monstrous stump, at LEAST 36" in diameter. A week later (after company came and went) I shoveled the mulch created from our monster stump into a pile in the center of the yard, after filling all the mobile containers we had, and found one more root the workman hadn't ground -- probably because he knew it was potentially in line with irrigation lines.
I asked Larry to pull out that root -- which he started -- but then we found another root three times its size under the first. The surprises continued all day as he dug and axed and mattoxed in 90 degree heat. Roots were intertwined with all the irrigation we uncovered, making ONE MORE task overwhelming! I stayed outdoors and brought him water while I moved rocks in the shade, most concerned for his work in the heat.
