Back to Life as Usual

As I ended my weekend and with it the fantasy of being the head gardener of a lemon orchard, I set about my normal routines, with one major change on my mind. My lemon trees.

In between my families Father’s Day tribute BBQ, and a few failed rounds of pickle ball with my siblings and their kids, I learned that my tree is a Meyer improved dwarf lemon tree. According to citrus.com;

“Dwarf Meyer lemon trees are shrub-like, but they can be pruned and made to look like a tree. The beautiful blossoms of this lemon tree are white and delightfully fragrant much like blended citrus with jasmine. The fruit is sweeter, has less acidic flavor & reduced bitterness compared to Lisbon or Eureka lemons.”so I learned that my little guy would grow to be a pretty little thing.

I also learned that my trees forebearers traveled here from their native China in 1908 at the hands of a man named Frank N Meyer. But grandpa lemon tree was discovered to be a symptomless carrier of the Tristeza Virus which was deadly for other citrus trees, through it all the forefathers of my citrus friend prevailed, because while many were destroyed, the strain of Meyer Lemon trees found to be disease free avoided oblivion. And from that stem, which was carefully guarded by the University of California, my lemon tree was born.

I started to worry about pollination, who could blame me, nobody wants to talk to their one year old about the birds and the bees and the minutia of reproduction. plus the Apricot tree in the front yard is kind of a slut. I learned it was part of a family of Self Pollinating trees. so I don’t really have to have that conversation; the process of hand pollination requires me violating my trees blossoms by brushing them the stamen of one blossom and rubbing pollen on the pistol of another. Not prepared for that. 

What I learned about as I started to worry about a possible economic shutdown in my state, was that the minuscule details of plant care are soothing. While I have no intention of making this the center of my Zen garden, I would like to use the care and cultivation of this tree to take my mind off my obsessive thoughts so that as I prune the stems off the tree to help it focus on growth, I can shed my mind of the toxic thoughts that permeate my mind. And although it will be larger than any bonsai tree, it already is, it will serve the same purpose as the Bonsai, it already has.

As I transfer the sapling from its current pot into a pot full of a nutrient dense and loamy soil that will keep the root network moist without drowning it, maybe I can find a way to do what is right no matter how hard it is, while not suffocating my spirit with all the bile and hatred in the world.

 this is the pot that i decided my little lemon buddy will spend the summer in, with some treated potting soil that should help keep the root network moist, but not drowning. and some fruit and veggie fertilizer. i drilled holes in the "self watering" tray of the new pot, because everything i have read says that the tree needs to be able to drain off extra water.

When I come home weary from the physical and emotional strains of my daily life. I can find strength in caring for another living thing. And with it I can hopefully bring some beauty into this world.

as I said goodbye to siblings and nieces and nephews, I hadn’t seen in months due to “social distancing “guidelines, I made plans to find my tree a humble terracotta pot and get some citrus specific soil and fertilizer. I searched the web for guides on pruning and realized that we can worry about so much, and control so little, but in the end all we can do is take focus on making a positive impact on the part of our lives we can control.

Edit 7/5/2020 sorry I didn’t finish this thought in my original post.

This is the start of something big.

So, I bought a lemon tree, I know blogs might be out, and maybe I do a vlog or something, but something magical happened and I feel like I need to share it with the world. We were out at our local neighborhood grocery store with our face masks on, I won’t mention them until they offer me a sponsorship deal, and right as we entered the store, there was a little display of various lemon trees.

I was immediately sidetracked from the task at hand, that task being the search and procurement of frozen curry lunches for my dear wife so she wouldn’t starve at work. She carried on blissfully unaware of the chemistry I was forming with this Chlorplastian lifeform just a few yards away. Once I became aware, she wasn’t with me, I went and retrieved her.

She was initially as excited as me and approached the first tree that I saw, we discussed the possibilities, but she was rightly worried about our ability to maintain the tree in a living state. I will confess here that we don’t have the best track record at keeping potted flora alive. If you feel the need to contact Child protective services, go ahead, but since we are discussing Citrus Limon and not homo sapiens it is not likely that they will take your complaint seriously. Additionally, I am making this blog so that you all can hold me accountable to the tree and its health.

when Cassi saw that the large and conventionally magnificent tree was 140 American Dollars, she immediately used the marital veto powers agreed upon in the forming of this union.

I pressed the issue because I saw the potential, and together we searched, and we found a 30-dollar tree that would have made Linus proud. As my wife made the very valid point that she didn’t want to spend 30 dollars on something that history had shown would be dead in a month. I said, “I didn't know it was such a bad little tree. It's not bad at all, really. Maybe all it needs is a little love.”

And so, with the funds we had budgeted for my discretionary spending, I purchased the tree, because that’s my money and I’ll do what I want. Because I love her, when we inevitably make the best lemonade in the world, I will share some with her if she wants it.

So, my life before the lemon tree was delightful and fulfilling, I work as a night manager for a nationally established chicken restaurant, also unnamed, but that is for employment reasons. They do pay me, but not to write this blog. I have been married to my best friend and high school sweetheart for 8 years, and we have been inseparable for nearly 11 years. We have two cats, Daisy and Macklin, Daisy is a sweetheart who is occasionally a real bitch to Macklin, and Macklin is an asshole who only loves me. They will appear here, but since this is about the tree, you will see them only as they take an interest in the tree.

At 30 I am trying to get through college while working full time, and that stress might be responsible for the mental break that cause me to purchase a lemon tree. We currently live in the home my Grandparents raised my mother in, which we purchased as our first home, although we are hoping to move to a condominium that is closer to where we both work and where I go to school. This means lots of renovations in this old house.

In total seriousness, I want this Lemon tree so that I can focus my energy on something that is; alive, and positive, and hopeful, and beneficial in this world. I am sick of the darkness. I will stand up for what I believe is right. I will fight in my own circle against injustice that I see, which may occasionally involve this blog. I won’t ignore the shadows and the darkness hoping it will go away. but in the midst of all of that, I hope that I can bring a vibrant love of life into my own existence, and also yours as well by sharing the story of my little lemon tree.

So, this is the start of something big, me and my lemon tree against the world. Follow this blog and I will be happy to share the fruit of my dear lemon tree with you. I will also share periodical updates about my life. As I have done here,