What I am reading, Vaccines and a Tree

I don't remember who suggested this book (and I think it was more than one person) but it is great! I am almost finished and I think that I will start over when I get to the end.  Thank you. 

We went and got our influenza 65+ and 2025/26 covid vaccinations yesterday.  I usually schedule them two weeks apart but this year I wanted to get 'em done since I am not sure what the rules are day to day.  I don't know if it was a specific ingredient or the double whammy but they hit us like a brick. We went home with chills and sweats, aches and pains all night and, after I got the kids on the bus and went to the egg farm this morning, I fell asleep for four hours.  We both feel much better now.  I tell myself that the bigger the reaction, the better the immunity but I am pretty sure I just made that up. 

In other news the weather has been so wonderful with cooler temperatures and a nice breeze that we sit on the front porch in the afternoon for an hour or two before the bus comes. We were looking at one of our flowering trees and I wondered about it's shape because it is more cone-like instead of round like a child's drawing of a tree.  This is our stimulating conversation on the porch. This is a tree we planted as a baby maybe 10 years ago. We bought it at a nursery.

This was an Easter Dinner porch delivery in 2020 during Covid. My daughter-in-law made meals for us and her parents and delivered them to porches. We are safely in the window.  The tree in question is in bloom between her and the police cruiser. It is 10 times bigger right now.  And the reason the police are supervising is that the officer is my son, her husband. 

Because we are grandparents highly skilled in technology, Mr Merry went over and took a picture of a leaf with that funny box on the search bar to identify the tree.  What a surprise! It is a Callery Pear tree which is now banned in my state.  It is imported from Asia and is invasive.  And as of January 1, 2023 you cannot sell, GROW or plant a Callery Pear tree in my state!!  

Say what?  So now I am unhappy. There I was in peaceful ignorance looking at a tree. Now I am committing an illegal act.  AND it is full of pretty white flowers in the spring!  It is just at the point where we can still cut it down ourselves and we are also experienced with the apple tree last week. And I think fall is a good time to plant a tree so I guess I will be looking at legal alternatives.  

Just call us the tree assassins. 

Meanwhile - going through photos to find a picture of the tree - this was the crew building the porch and addition in 2002, which does not seem that long ago. The skinny tree in the center is not the pear tree, but another flowering tree we planted that did not survive.

And here is the porch more recently. I am so glad we built that porch!