Sad Old Tree

A few weeks ago,possibly months i wrote about our old plum tree.....

I am reminded about it by several things today.Although the connections are not always direct,let alone obvious,this is the way the subconscious,maybe the unconscious works.....

I have also written several,maybe many times,that whilst not a musician,i think musically.As i write i still have a hazy recolection of a refrain in a song,that i cannt pin down.I remember the line,probably wrongly as"...sad old tree".One of the things it makes me think is that i have done accidental harm to our sad old tree.

The harvest was late and poor this year,and in addition i have neglected it.It usually fruits in july,but when we left for  afamiky break in early August the fruit remained unripe,and  indeed was only just ripening when we returned.There was much less than usual and much of it was also much smaller tha  usual.My declining health also made it more diffcilt to harvest and left it quickly ferments and rots.caught on time the taste varies,pleasantly from mildly sharp and sweet to drunkenly sweet like it insists onfermenting.ther have been times when i have found the occassional bird,zonked on the grass beneath the tree.

Today i harvested the few remaining plums that were left,and felt sad that i have neglected it....though i cannot work out quite while i feel so bad.

Over the years,one of the joys has been the sharing of the fruit,some of which has sometimes also come full  circle as jam or filling or topping for cakes....Linda has given some away>i am pleased about that,but there feels to be something missing in that i have myself not been able either to harvest much or to give it away.i was indeed hoping and looking forward to sharing that harvest with the friends and comrades i have been working with over this last year or so,which could have been another opportunity to be together.But then perhaps this is an occassion when i just have to  buck up,pull myself together and look for another opportunity.There are of course apples and pears next in our own and my childrens grandmothers garden.......

Meantime,can i drag the memory of the song from the recesses of memory.

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