It's a Jungle Out There

Yesterday appeared to be the one 'dry' day of the week.....

After the Noon Hour Board Meeting at Mercer Residential, I headed over to Mom's to cut down a couple of small trees that were infesting one of the flower beds in her yard...then it was home to tackle the young Maple Trees that were growing tall among the bushes that guard the east side of our yard.

The bushes have become a catching ground for the "helicopters" that the Maple Trees produce every spring...thousands upon thousands of the seeds flying around the yard each year and deposit themselves wherever they wish...the problem being when they drop into the bushes that line the yard, they are impossible to detect until they start growing...and they need to be gotten rid of....I let only one grow in the 15 years we have lived here....and it rests near the raspberry bushes in the back yard...having grown some 15 or 20 feet high in those years....

The cutting down of the interlopers took an hour or so...and I deposited them curbside for the weekly brush pickup which occurs in Celina throughout the Summer....the yard, with the winds and rains of late, has indeed become a "Jungle".

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Once that chore was completed, I showered and headed off to Spencerville to work with Chuck Etzler, as the Bearcats took on St. Henry....last year Sam and I did this late season match-up with the Visiting Redskins coming out on top by 20-1 or so...this year would be different.

Just a short 1o days ago, St Henry was sitting near the top of the Division 3 state baseball rankings, with a 16-2 record and undefeated in MAC play....they then proceeded to lose 4 games, including 2 in the league, and then were knocked out of the Sectional Tournament by Bluffton. Meanwhile underdog Spencerville, was staggering along with a handful of wins, when they drew Wayne Trace in the D4 Sectional at Crestview...they came away with a 1 run win, and are still very much alive and will face the host Knights in Convoy tomorrow(weather permitting)....

Down 4-0 Spencerville rallied back and pulled out a hard fought 6-4 win....2 teams fortunes moving in different directions to say the least....

Tonight I am scheduled to umpire at Delphos Jefferson as the regular season winds down, and the Tournament action heats up....that is not going to happen however, the rains, even though no confirmation yet, will likely wash that one out(Game has been Cancelled due to wet grounds)...Wednesday is an off/make up date, and Thursday I am scheduled to head to Crestview for a Sectional Final between Fort Jennings and Antwerp, with the winner moving on to District action....rain and results will decided when and where I work.

back later>>>>

Photos-The random wild Maples that I cleared out of the bushes set waiting for pickup along rain soaked Brandon Avenue...The lone Maple that I have let grow in the back yard, serving as a refuge and feeding station for the neighborhood Squirrels and birds...and finally a cluster of the "helicopters" that hang each May from the backyard Maple Tree.....