The Answer My Friend…

The Answer My Friend… was Originally Posted on May 22, 2005 by lavarock

There is a popular song which contains the refrain “The answer my friend” and I thought of it when I came up with this blog.

Last month or so I needed to know how many macadamia nut trees I had. I also wanted to map the area to decide where I was going to plant 5,000 coffee trees. Since GPS is not accurate enough for what I wanted, I decided to try to determine where each row of trees were and how many trees in a row.

I decided a non-technical way to count many trees was to flag each row. Ace Hardware sells little flags and I opted for Orange. They are small 2″ by 2″ plastic patches on a small thin wire. You just decide where to put them and push then into the ground (not easy if you live on rock). It is also not very easy to see the orange flags. They are small and seem to blend in with existing weeds.

Walking alonmg the driveway and although it was difficult but I think I accurately identified each row with the flags. I say it was difficult because it appears the rows are not very straight and trees have been allowed to grow inbetween the regular rows. I estimate 50 rows of 10 trees for a toal of 500 macadamia trees!

So along this driveway I have 50 little orange flags, each denoting what I believe to be an original row of trees.

On another note, I was up in town yesterday helping install a refrigerator. Why? It seems that I have this truck…

By the way, a few days ago I was caring for that lost dog and had taken it up mauka to get some exercise. I found a few kids walking up the road, exploring I guess, as they appear to be new to the neighborhood. They saw me and decided to leave; realizing that this was my driveway and not just a road. They may have been 9 years old or so, I don’t know, but certainly pretty young.

On my way home last night it was dark as the moon was behind heavy clouds. I turned down the driveway and part of the way down the headlights illuminated something. I almost drove past but then something registered in my head. I stopped and backed up, getting out of the car to investigate.

Sure enough, I HAD seen something, something that made my spirits drop just a bit. There was a pile, well a clump if you will, as it they were, all standing upright. All picked like flowers and planted in one spot.

As the song goes, “The answer my friend was blowing in the wind…”

The answer was 30 little orange flags, all together in a clump, blowing in the wind!