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Monday
March 20, 2017

trees from nursery with
                      caged rootballs waiting to be planted in an
                      expansive suburban backyard
As someone who chops and assembles wood products for a living, it's nice to spend some time at the other end of the spectrum, planting trees. Today I pitched in with my neighbor Kevin's landscaping business. It's hard, herky-jerky work heaving and setting big old root balls with stevedore hooks, not to mention digging the holes in rocky soil and hauling dozens of loads of compost. But it felt good to be outside, hands in the dirt, earthy smells and a good dose of sunshine before clouds and drizzle drew the curtains. It was a short day but felt longer than the six hours and it sort of wrecked my back and sometimes it all feels so hopeless and bleak in this cold-hearted capitalist system, a $534 bill for a single filling waiting in the mail, too broke to afford the "luxury" of dental insurance (high premiums, shitty coverage), too "rich" to get assistance, stuck and fucked in the middle. I eased my bones into a hot epsom salt soak and plowed through In the Penal Colony, Kafka always good for a laugh.