Trimming the old Maple tree

Dear Diary,

Jim came to trim dead branches from the old Maple tree in the front yard.  It suffers from all the salt they use on the roads nowadays since it is so close to it.  Jim did tree work for me 18 years ago, right after I moved in.  You may notice that there is no ladder...he climbs the tree and, with the help of ropes, walks from branch to branch.  It is an amazing thing to watch.  Almost all companies that do tree work now use buckets to lift them.  Jim does it the old fashioned way.

Jim has been doing this work for 60 years!  You would never know that he is 78.  He scrambled around, 30 feet above the ground, like a monkey leaping from limb to limb.  I get vertigo when I climb a step ladder!  He'll be back in a few weeks to fertilize the tree and hopefully keep it going for a few more years.

Emerson seems to like the homeopathic drops I am adding to his food now to help his kidney function.  Let's hope they, combined with his new prescription diet, does the trick.  Like the old Maple tree, I want to keep him going as long as I can!