And it was even better than I remembered. Might have something to do with the edit Carolyn did on it, but even so, it’s just a cool story. It’s one of her anthropological type fantasies and she does such a great job of capturing a mindset based on bits and pieces of religion and language. And Dubhain’s priceless. Sometimes he’s very much a horse.
I’m really curious now to go back and read the original, which I haven’t done in years. I love comparing versions of stories.
And maybe we’ll get a bit more of these two, now that she’s got an outlet for short stories. That would be fun.
On the garden front…I called the store where I got my weeping pussy willow and found out that two of the guys who work there have had the same problem (no growth) and returned theirs. Knowing I’ll have no problem with the return, I’ve decided to try something a bit odd. I’ve tented the entire thing in plastic and am misting it several times a day. I found out it had been shipped bareroot. The little pussy willow buds dried and hardened before they were fully out. I think it might have needed to be soaked, not just the roots, but the whole tree, before it was planted. Don’t know if it’ll work, but I’ve got nothing to lose. So far, the branches are noticably more flexible.
I’ve still got a couple of months before I have to return it. We’ll see what a week of this does.
Such fun!
Ja ne!
If it was shipped bare root and got that dried out, the microscopic hair roots are toast. The store should have given it a good soak before planting. I’m afraid that what you are doing Jane is akin to giving blood transfusions to someone whose veins are filled with concrete. There may be a few flickers of life but I doubt death will be postponed more than a short time. You could try to put a couple of cuttings into rooting hormone and potting them up and keep them very moist. You would have to train it into a standard though.