Oh, @#$%...what could be going on here?

There seems to be some plan to dig in the immediate area surrounding Barney. To be frank, I'm a little scared.

Barney, the Provider.

Among the many qualities that Barney has, the most important might just be his good looks. Amid a courtyard surrounded by old apartment buildings (which look like they were stolen from the set of Star Wars in the 1970s), Barney provides an aesthetic beauty to what otherwise would be described as a visually anaesthetized experience.

Other services provided by Barney include: soil stabilization, carbon sequestration, oxygen emission, wildlife habitat, and moderator of extreme weather impacts.

The most important function just might be soil stabilization. In front of Barney is a small, two-tier knoll--the second tier of which has a significant drop off that leads down to a pool. Barney keeps the soil from eroding, causing runoff into the pool, or dramatic shifts in land formation. Also important is that because of Barney, artificial barriers don't have to be constructed, such as a sidewalk or concrete retention wall.

Here's a Picture of a Titmouse Perched on a Tree Branch With Berries

This is for everyones enjoyment, or fulfillment, as in this bird could help you win a game of Scattergories.

Let's Hope For A Decisive Spring (As Opposed to this Bipolar Winter)

In four months my entity will...(the prediction for Barney is interwoven in between frivolous banter--may this be somewhat enjoyable).

I woke up the other morning to find that my deck was entirely frozen. This shouldn't have been too much of a surprise given that Bloomington is much farther south than the northern suburbs of Chicago, where I grew up, and they have been bombarded with snow. The winters here are much more mild with the temperatures constantly hovering above and below 32 degrees. I'm not entirely sure if the lack of snow accumulation is abnormal or not, but I tend to think that we could be in for a cool to moderate spring.

I'm hoping that come April, the temperature will be a nice 60+ degrees. I would be ecstatic. I have a feeling Barney would be thrilled too. I can't say this with much certainty, but I don't believe Barney particularly enjoys the ice. So far he has faired quite well throughout this freeze. I went out to chat with him and he didn't really say much besides the occasional "pshhh," which I think is his favorite noise to make. I could gather that he might be a little fed up with the indecision exhibited by this winter season.

I believe last spring brought some fairly heavy storms through Bloomington. I fully expect Barney to be able to withstand severe storms; he is nested in a courtyard, surrounded by tall apartment buildings which I think provide a nice buffer to possible gale force winds. I'm thinking that he'll probably have leaves by the time finals roll around. It would be an encouraging sign.

I can't imagine too much else that could happen to Barney between now and early May. I would describe him as an adult tree, fairly mature, still in the prime of his life. Spring just has such a great feel to it, as nature begins to wake up--you know how spring feels. I'm curious to see what kind of birds will hang out with Barney. Robins. Yes, they will be there. I don't know much about birds, but I think it would be kind of cool to observe and see if I can identify any of them. I'm sure there will be squirrels around Barney too.

Well, in four months Barney will have budding leaves at least. And for my boldest prediction, there will be a bird's nest! For some reason, I'm particularly confident about that.

Hello, Barney.

This is Barney. I have a pine tree in my house, Martin, that I think would be good friends with Barney. They're both Daoists, by my estimate at least. I say this because they have a tendency to 'go with the flow.' I was watching Barney the other day and there was a breeze. You know what Barney did? Some of his branches swayed in the direction of the breeze. Daoist.

Anyway, a little story about myself: way back in the 1990s when I was at a relatively young age, my brother and I had watched a National Geographic episode about rappelling, or climbing, something of the sort. Naturally, inspiration followed--we wanted to rappel from trees. We gathered plenty of rope and climbed up a tree in our backyard, fastened the rope to the tree and prepared ourselves to descend the trunk.

However, there was an important component of rappelling that we did not pay close attention to: when preparing to rappel, you do not fasten the rope around your neck. What a wonderful call my mother received from the neighbor as we were about to jump (definitely not proper rappelling etiquete). She must have been so proud of us.