I researched trees apt to this climate and compared them to what Denver Digs Trees was offering. This morning, faint with post-dream headache and armed with Pride and Prejudice to distract and soothe me in inevitable lines and between dogs (I met a Viszla named Ruby and a golden retriever named Tahoe), I bought a three-year-old (or older) hedge maple.
I dug a lovely hole as deep and twice as wide as the rootball. I broke up all the clods, sifted out stones, added some but not very much compost according to current advice, placed the tree, filled the hole, constructed a soil ring, watered and refilled the hole, and redistributed mulch. There. It wants more water than anything else in the front yard, but it's a tree. A tree resistant to disease, air pollution, insect infiltration, and drought; slow-enough growing to be less prone to blizzard damage; and a maple reportedly likely to grow interesting branches, so possibly eventually another Climbing Tree.
Its name is Gregor Samsa because I expect great changes from it.
I finally began a kitchen photo album, added several photographs to Blake's album, and a few to the garden from this year. The kitchen thus far has only tediously detailed before pictures. I intend not to post any afters (or durings) until it is after, but there's a peek* at the cabinets in the Blake album.
* This was "peak" until 12 May 2004. I blame this on CoolBoss, who composed a headline--"A Peak Ahead"--not about mountains but about forecasting. I hang my head.