My Manchurian "Miss Kim" Lilacs put on quite a show this year.

Best ever, in fact.

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Last July, a large tree fell in the woods at the edge of our property. Quite loudly, in fact.

Last night, on the opposite side of the property, another one fell. This one was right outside the bedroom window, and it was really, really loud!

I assumed it was done by vines, the bittersweet and wild grape that so plague this area, as their first sneak attack of the season after a long Winter's truce. We're at war, and all night I plotted my own first strike. After all, I have a reputation to uphold.

Now I know better. It wasn't vines, it was an old, dead, very large tree that had finally rotted enough at the base to break and fall. It took everything out on its way down. This includes ripping an oak tree almost in half from top to bottom.

I've uploaded some photos with comments to my flickr area, showing the damage.

Corinne sent me a link to these amazing photos of melon carvings in China Japan.

I've seen some impressive pumpkin carvings in the U.S., but nothing that ever approached that level of detail. And color!

The amount of time and patience that surely requires is unimaginable.

Make sure you scroll down the page to see everything.

Update 8/18/2005: They're Japanese, not Chinese. That's embarrassing, sorry. Follow that link to a more 'official' gallery site.

The incessant spring rains were obviously very good for my lilacs, they were fantastic this year.

For a few years I've been trying to take a picture that fools you into thinking you can smell them -- remember that I only get a couple days each year to try -- and I think I've finally done it. You need to know what they smell like already, of course (my photography's not that good!), but if you do then check out the largest version of the last picture on my latest page of manchurian lilac pictures.

Why is my best writing always about death?

Depressing thought, huh? Years later, my 'eulogies' to Roy and Dave can still jerk a tear out of some of my friends who knew them, and I think the one about Wixie is just as good.

Yes, writing from pain is a well documented form of inspiration. It still bothers me that those are the three pieces I remember best.

(On the other hand, based on the number of hits certain pages get, the guests to this site only care about Japanese Red Maples, Manchurian "Miss Kim" Lilacs, and my sister's Wedding Rehearsal Dinner... none of which have anything to do with my writing, and everything to do with my photos.)