lmao poo! i swear sometimes that i have a tail and it is all bristled out :) they always happen when you are "away." papers sliding off bulletin boards and down walls get me, even. i just love your stretching style! last year, i heard the great horned every night all night with h/her screech. at times i would see that great wing span in the shadows going to or from the light poles. as winter was coming i became almost hollow thinking how used to hearing it i had become and how i would miss it. then, there it was one day, i think i heard it in the winter still. i said, in my mind, "hello friend. glad to hear from you, even if only a great once in awhile." as spring came and even now, it is out there, hunting the same areas in close proximity still to the building i work in. when it isn't there, it is like a light is burned out and you can't figure out what is missing or different. brenda, first lets get one thing perfectly clear! i wasn't sniffing it. honest. the smell easily wafted up to my face. :) you have been officially snuffed off by a doe. sort of like, ha, i am upper class. get back across the tracks, fiend. don't you just love those foot stomps? back to the toad pellet, or whatever they are called. i believe, though do not know, that it came out the anterior end, but looked like poopy all the same. my current experience with cicadas are having headless ones on my patio. i know how that sudden rattling sound stimulates the feline prowess, but what is it with cats and heads? i wonder if a cat attacked that one california store. hmmmmm. other than protecting yourself from an occassional, though not likely, collision with a cicada, or wondering what keeps hitting the windows so you go to bed with a flashlight and a cleaver, the most i have experienced was a mind numbing buzz in my ears from the deafening song. that was the precursor to the lunacy the constant buzzing would cause. here's a wild looking cicada. we don't have those here. i was looking for the black with the red eyes when i found this page. those are further down, along with an interesting zuni legend. Here is a link that might be useful: cicadas

there are a lot of good yellow tinged arbs .. like george washington, yellow ribbons, sunkist, ...etc ... as well as some real neat ... cham obtusa and c. pisifera .... that will lend diversity of type, as well as color , texture , etc ... but most are not going to be found at size ... let alone found locally .... if it were me.. i would consider a line of greens at the property line 4 to 6 feet apart .. and 3 to 5 feet in toward you ... i would put a second line of on opposing points ... with the blues.. the filifera .. the yellows.. etc .... i can picture it in my mind... but am having a hard time describing it ... did it make sense???? ken pix of a few options ... you have to do the research if they are viable in your zone ... Chamaecyparis thyoides 'Variegated' Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Vintage Gold' Chamaecyparis pisifera filifera 'Lemon Thread' Chamaecyparis thyoides 'Blue Sport'

Sky, these trees mostly don't need any interference from their owners to achieve a near-perfect form. All that extension of the current year's new growth may look out of proportion, but wherever that growth terminates, new lateral buds will form. These buds will push out side branches next year such that the probleem you think you might be seeing now will simply vanish. Much as Ken says, excepting his opinion that NS is not a tree for "suburbia". Had he said, not a tree for a tiny space in suburbia, I could concur. But suburbia's a big place, full of thousands of suitable locations for large-growing conifers. Indeed, they provide much that is delightful about such places. +oM

Sorry about your luck, things like this happen. You should feel good about yourself for stepping up to the plate and doing the right thing. But...you wrote. "But I'm scared of getting ripped off by these car body shops who'd take down and repair a car in a way that's more costly than it should end up being." What more needs to be said? Fixing the car right, which means doing what is necessary to restore it to pre-accident condition means the shop does NOT cut corners to save on cost. If there is one thing that needs to be addressed here it is the near impossible demands of making the car right, and trying to do it "cheaper". The other party deserves to have the car repaired correctly. You, doing the right thing have taken the proper steps to see that this is getting done, and you should be commended for that. But then right away starting to fear a rip-off, when you have never seen the shop, or met the people that work there is an attitude that needs some correction. The other party wanted to file a police report, but have taken your word that would not be necessary. Treat the shop they choose with just as much respect. Now as far as the cost. Accidents happen, we all (well all of us that know we need to do the right thing) pay for and have insurance to help us out during these (hopefully) rare events. Get the estimate, and then decide if it's to your advantage to turn it into your insurance. If it is, then do so. If not, then rely on the shop to fix the car correctly, and then pay them for doing so. Then move on. Besides, you never know you just may have found a good body shop that you werent aware of previously. You never know when that information could come in handy for you, or a friend or relative. The bottom line, if my car gets damaged, and I am going to have it repaired by a pro, I know several that I would take it to in a heartbeat. They have the correct tools, the high tech paint booth, and the color paint blending equipment etc. right on site. These guys, everyone of them are easily NOT the cheapest I could go to, but then again doing the job right is what counts. They will do that without question.