‘Green’ stamp via USPS
Even more than Earth Day, I enjoy celebrating Arbor Day. Why is that? Because one of the best ways to celebrate Arbor Day is to find yourself a great big tree, plop yourself down and hang out underneath. Especially in the desert, shade trees are enormously important. While I adore the fast-growing, violet-flowering jacarandas, they don’t do much in the shade department. My favorite tree at the moment is a mystery. It is a tree in my front yard. I tried to identify it using the Arbor Day’s What Tree is That? guide, but I just couldn’t figure it out. So I’m still on the identification hunt. But it is a gem in the shade department – the dark leaves are so dense that even when everywhere else in the yard is crispy hot, it is still immensely pleasant under there. I wish it was in my backyard, so I could throw parties underneath it.
This photo is from a great article about one man’s love of apple’s, his search for his holy grail of apples, and his commitment to turning rare apples into abundant ones.
Today it’s all things trees!
Perhaps you’d like to start your own dawn redwood forest? Start here:
We had a live Christmas tree once when I was growing up. Being the dad that he is, my dad refused to get a cut one and bought a 3-foot potted tree. It is in his backyard now, at least 12 ft high. If you’d rather have one that grows at a much slower rate – so you can still decorate for a few years – Apartment Therapy Outdoor has a great tree that will do the trick:
A Japanese umbrella pine. For the dwarf variety, you can expect it to grow about 3 feet over 10 years.
If you are low on space, have you thought about espaliered trees? 
Any tree is better than no tree, in my mind.
“When we have learned how to listen to trees, then the brevity and the quickness and the childlike hastiness of our thoughts achieve an incomparable joy.” -Herman Hesse
Peppered Thought 
I’m in awe of the immense amount of information you provide while still seeming to have a life. If I spent every second of every day on the internet, I wouldn’t even come close.
I don’t remember which book it was that I had as a kid, but one of the Dr. Seuss-y types had a picture of a huge tree, and that’s what I pictured when you were talking about your front yard tree. Funny, and it IS amazing what a difference in temperature they provide.
Have you ever been to the Japanese Friendship Garden? It’s only open through the end of May and costs $5 to get in. It’s a perfect morning (if it’s gonna be a scorcher), or afternoon spent just strolling and feeding the scary koi. They’re not scary till you have a hundred of them with their mouths open, just waiting for the next tasty morsel (you). Haha.
Anyway, while I don’t always comment, I do enjoy your blogs. I sometimes don’t read the ones about your bar, for obvious reasons…but some I do just because they sound interesting. Jarritos and tequila sounds god-awful to me, but that’s because I think I’d…well, let’s just say I don’t think my body, soul and spirit are compatible with tequila, anymore. Thank god.