#local arborists

[treeservicejacksontn]

Tree Care Near Me in Jackson, TN: Choose Jackson Tree Service for Expert Solutions

Taking care of your trees is a big part of keeping your property beautiful, healthy and safe. Professional tree care is necessary whether you require pruning, removal, or routine maintenance, and will ensure the job is done quickly and safely. Jackson Tree Service in Jackson, TN is the top choice for tree care solutions that are reliable and expert.

In this article, we explore why professional tree care is important, the services Jackson Tree Service provides, and why they are the answer to your search for tree care near me in Jackson, TN.

The Importance of Professional Tree Care

1. Maintaining Tree Health

Routine tree care keeps your trees healthy. By trimming dead or diseased branches, you can get better sunlight exposure, better air circulation and better growth.

2. Ensuring Safety

Trees that are growing over, or damaged, are a safety risk, particularly during storms. Professional tree care services remove hazards, like falling branches or leaning trees, so you and your family are safe.

3. Enhancing Property Value

Well maintained healthy trees can greatly enhance your home's value and enhance the aesthetic appeal.

4. Environmental Benefits

Healthy trees help clean the environment by absorbing carbon dioxide, decrease erosion and give habitats for wildlife.

Why Choose Jackson Tree Service?

Jackson Tree Service is a local and family owned and operated business that has for over a decade provided the Jackson, TN community with honesty and professionalism. The experienced team is dedicated to providing top tier services to residential, commercial and municipal properties.

Tree Care Services

Jackson Tree Service offers a wide array of services to meet all your tree care needs:

Tree Pruning and Trimming: Precise pruning and trimming services will enhance the health, appearance and safety of your trees.

Tree Removal: Working with proficient professionals will help you remove dead, diseased or hazardous trees safely.

Stump Grinding and Removal: Get rid of unsightly stumps to improve your property’s look and prevent pest infestations.

Emergency Tree Services: They are available 24/7 to aid in the handling of storm damage as well as your need for urgent tree care.

Tree Health Assessments: The expert arborists evaluate the health of your trees and prescribe suitable treatment.

The Jackson Tree Service Difference

1. Local Expertise

Jackson Tree Service knows the Jackson, TN climate and tree species. They develop solutions that fit the particular needs of the area.

2. Advanced Equipment

Regardless of the project’s complexity, the company uses state of art equipment to ensure that tree care is both efficient and precise.

3. Skilled Arborists

Jackson Tree Service uses experienced arborists who love trees and strive to keep them healthy and beautiful.

4. Customer-Centric Approach

The whole team works for customer satisfaction; from the project idea consultation with the customers to project completion, they prioritize the delivery of products which are customized and clear in communication.

5. Pricing that is: affordable and transparent

When you search for “tree care near me in Jackson, TN” you often worry about the cost. Jackson Tree Service is upfront with pricing with no hidden fees.

When Should You Call a Professional Tree Service?

Here are some signs that you may need professional tree care:

Dead or Dying Trees: If your tree has dead branches, or no foliage, this may indicate that you need to prune or remove the tree.

Overhanging Branches: Safety risks are posed by branches near your home, power lines or other structures.

Visible Damage: Structural problems include cracks, splits or fungal growth on trunk or branch trunks.

Storm Damage: If there is severe weather, fallen branches and leaning trees need to be dealt with right away.

Growth Control: Professional trimming improves spacing and health, but if trees are growing too close to each other.

The Tree Care Process at Jackson Tree Service

Initial Consultation: An on site evaluation is the first step in our process to understand your tree care needs.

Customized Plan: Health and safety of your trees and your property is considered and a tailored care plan is developed.

Efficient Service: The work is done with precision and care; whether trimming, removal or stump grinding.

Clean-Up: After the job is done, the team makes sure your property is clean and debris free.

Follow-Up: Jackson Tree Service offers advice about keeping your trees healthy and long lived.

Why Regular Tree Care is a Smart Investment

Investing in regular tree care yields long-term benefits:

Cost Savings: Preventative care cuts the odds that you are paying for emergency services.

Improved Safety: By routine maintenance, we minimize the risk of a falling branch or unstable trees.

Increased Property Value: Well maintained, healthy trees improve the curb appeal of your home.

Environmental Impact: Taking care of your trees helps a local ecosystem to be healthy.

Contact Jackson Tree Service Today!

Jackson Tree Service is the place to go if you’re looking for “tree care near me in Jackson, TN.” The trusted providers for tree care solutions in this area are known with their expertise, dedication and affordable pricing.

[chigwelltreeservices1]

Choosing the best tree removal service near you involves checking credentials, insurance, and reviews. Look for certified arborists, compare quotes, and ensure safety standards are followed. A reliable service prioritises safety, clean-up, and customer satisfaction.

[localtreetemovalca]

Why Local Arborist Services Matter for Healthy, Safe Trees

Hiring local arborist services to your area ensures trees receive care tailored to regional conditions. Arborists understand the native species, soil types, and common pests, providing precise pruning, disease management, and risk assessments. Their quick response to emergencies, such as storm damage, helps maintain safety and property value. With their proximity and expertise, local arborists offer efficient, eco-conscious tree care that enhances the health and longevity of your landscape while minimizing potential hazards.

[423treeservice]

Tree Contractors Near Me in Johnson City: Your Local Experts for Tree Care

In most cases, the aesthetics and safety of your property depend on how well you maintain your trees. Trees are beneficial for your property as they make your home or business premises to be shaded, beautiful and valuable, but they need to be pruned. If you are looking for tree contractors near me in Johnson City, then this is the place you need to be. Professional tree contractors thus guarantee your trees are healthy, your property secure and you’re not a candidate for expensive repairs due to negligence or poor management of trees.

Why You Need Professional Tree Contractors

Caring for trees isn’t a simple task. While you might trim a few branches here and there, professional tree contractors provide comprehensive care that goes far beyond basic pruning. Here are some reasons why hiring a professional is the right choice:

Safety First: Tree care particularly the removal process is a risky job. Experts have tools and skills in performing dangerous operations without putting their lives at risk.

Expert Knowledge: Certified contractors have a knowledge of the local tree varieties and how to maintain them.

Efficiency: This means that the work is professional and done faster and with less trouble for you.

Whether you need to remove a hazardous tree, clear storm debris, or enhance your landscaping, expert tree contractors in Johnson City are ready to assist.

Services Offered by Tree Contractors Near You

Tree Removal Pruning a tree seems simple, however, it is an intricate process which needs quality planning before it is carried out. Whether it is diseased, dead or a danger to your property, professional contractors guarantee safe tree removal without compromising your property.

Tree Trimming and Pruning Pruning encourages the right growth, discourages excessive growth and improves the looks of your trees. It also can prevent structures such as the power lines, roofs among others from being damaged.

Stump Grinding and Removal Tree stumps can be ugly and dangerous. The contractors employ the appropriate tools and equipment to reduce the stump below the ground level and make your yard clean and safe.

Emergency Tree Services Tropical storms can bring about trees to fall, block roads or even damage structures. Professional contractors provide emergency services during calamities that involve trees and other similar situations.

How to Choose the Best Tree Contractor in Johnson City

With so many options available, finding the right tree contractor can be overwhelming. Here are some tips to help you make an informed decision:

Check Credentials The contractor should also be insured and accredited, by organisations such as the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA). These give a signal or assurance of professionalism and professionalism.

Read Online Reviews There is information from Google, Yelp, and local directories that will give valuable insights into the experiences of customers. Be sure to look for contractors who have received mostly good reviews.

Ask for References A competent contractor should be in a position to give contacts of other people they have worked for. The idea of contacting these references gives you the feel of their reliability and quality of their work done.

Benefits of Hiring Local Tree Contractors in Johnson City

Choosing a local contractor offers several advantages:

Quick Response: Local contractors are also in a position to respond faster to any problem especially during disasters.

Knowledge of Local Trees: This way they are in a position to offer proper care to the native tree species that they are handling.

Community Support: The Johnson City community benefits from employing local services to help the local economy and business.

When to Call a Tree Contractor

Not sure if you need professional tree services? Here are some common scenarios where a tree contractor is essential:

Dead or Diseased Trees: If neglected, these trees pose a considerable threat to people’s safety.

Storm Damage: Downed trees or their branches are rather dangerous and should be removed or trimmed as soon as possible.

Overgrown Trees: Limbs that extend over your house roof, your car or the electric wires require cutting to minimize the dangers.

Landscaping Projects: No matter whether it is construction of a new swimming pool or installation of a new patio; the clearance would mean cutting or transplanting some trees.

Tips for Maintaining Healthy Trees in Johnson City

Watering: Water your trees frequently especially when the weather is dry.

Mulching: Spread it around the base in order to conserve moisture and to control temperature of the ground.

Inspect Regularly: Find out if there are one or more diseases, pests, or structural problems that need your attention.

Hire Professionals: Tree contractor services can help in avoiding minor problems to turn into serious ones if they are checked often.

Why Choose Us for Tree Services in Johnson City?

Here in 423 Tree Service, our staff of skilled arborists is committed to delivering the best quality tree care services that meet your requirements. From mowing, trimming, and edging your lawn to removing trees and debris from a storm, to clearing land, we are committed to safety, speed, and satisfaction.

Contact Your Local Tree Contractors in Johnson City Today!

Do not let a small problem turn into a big problem for you. Contact the most qualified tree contractors in Johnson City. We will be glad to assist you to keep your property safe and beautiful and something you can be proud of. Don’t wait to get your free consultation or estimate! Call today!

[treeremovalamarillotx]

Tree Services in Amarillo: Your Trusted Tree Specialists Near You in Amarillo, Texas

In as much as beauty, health, and safety of your property is concerned, it is important to hire a tree specialist near me. The importance of trees in our environment is enormous; they are a source of beautiful sight, shade, and even conservation. However, if kept unkempt some of the perceived benefits can actually become a menace to property and lives. Amarillo, Texas residents who are homeowners or business owners know that taking care of your trees is important, and Tree Removal Amarillo is ready and willing to help.

Why Choose a Professional Tree Specialist Near You?

Tree trimming can be a do it yourself project but tree services provide much more than just the cutting down of trees. A certified tree specialist knows the biology of trees, the dangers trees may present, and the best and safest ways to manage trees. It is therefore always good to know what to expect from a good tree specialist company when searching for tree specialists near me in Amarillo, Texas.

Here’s why you should always hire professionals for your tree care:

Expert Knowledge and Skills Certified arborists can evaluate the health condition of trees, define diseases or pests affecting plants and suggest the corresponding treatment. They understand how to trim trees to be healthy, grow right, and be structurally sound. If removal is called for, a professional tree service is able to do this safely and in the shortest time possible.

Proper Equipment Tree trimming and removal can only be done with the help of certain tools. Determining the size of the tree and whether it is within a residential or commercial area may require the use of cranes, chainsaw, stump grinder and such like. Apart from being able to obtain the right equipment, the professionals are also able to use the equipment in the right manner.

Safety First Tree services are often dangerous especially when large trees or branches are near power lines or structures. A certified tree specialist near your locality will understand how to deal with these risky situations efficiently. This means that hiring experts reduces the chances of having an accident, an injury, or even damaging property.

Our Range of Services

Tree Removal Amarillo has a number of services that can be provided to enhance the look of your landscape while making it safe for people and other property. Here are some of the services our certified tree specialists provide:

Tree Trimming and Pruning

Trims and prunes are very important when working with trees so as to ensure that trees should not develop detrimental qualities of growth. Pruning eliminates some of the undesirable branches that may be dead or diseased; it beautifies the tree; and ensures that all branches receive direct sunlight. 

Tree Removal

Sometimes it is necessary to cut down a tree. This is because we can remove it because of disease, storm damage or if it is a threat to your property in the first place. Our specialists analyze every case closely in order to minimize the impact of the removal process on your property.

Emergency Tree Removal

The weather in Texas is quite changeable and storms can make trees fall or become a threat to fall. In case of any emergency, we offer our tree removal services at any time of the day or night. Whether you have a tree that has fallen on your compound or one that is leaning and likely to cause problems, we shall be there for you.

Stump Grinding and Removal

Once a tree is brought down, the stump that is left behind is usually ugly and could be dangerous. Stump removal gets rid of the stump by cutting it off from the surface and gives you back your yard space. When you hire us for stump grinding, you will be able to landscape the area, without the hassle of a stump in the way.

Why Tree Removal Amarillo is the Right Choice

When you are looking for a tree specialist in your area in Amarillo, Texas you need a company that has the experience, reliability and good customer relations. Tree Removal Amarillo has established its name as one of the best tree care service providers in the region to both homeowners and business people. Here’s what sets us apart:

Certified Arborists The employees of our team are certified and we have all the necessary knowledge and skills to deal with any tree care issues. Whether it’s a small trim or a full tree removal, we are here to help you achieve the best results.

Customer-Centered Approach We hold the principle of customer oriented. Our team will assess your requirements, advise you based on our professional opinion and guarantee that you are satisfied with the services we offer.

Competitive Pricing A good tree service does not have to be expensive. Our pricing is affordable for all our services, and therefore you can keep your trees healthy and looking great without straining your pockets.

Conclusion

It is very important to keep your trees healthy and aesthetically pleasing to the eye for the property that you own, and the only way to do so is to hire a tree specialist. Any homeowner and business owner in Amarillo should consider Tree Removal Amarillo as your one-stop shop for all your tree care requirements.

[colinsmith124]

Quality Tree Pruning and Care in Utah from ArborPlus Arborists

Maintaining healthy, beautiful trees requires expertise, precision, and the right tools. At ArborPlus, we specialize in tree pruning and care services that enhance the health and aesthetics of your trees while ensuring the safety and value of your property. Whether you’re a homeowner or manage a commercial property, our experienced and certified arborists are here to provide top-quality care that promotes long-term tree health.

Why Tree Pruning is Essential for Your Trees

Pruning is one of the most important aspects of tree care. Tree pruning involves the careful removal of specific branches to maintain the tree’s health, shape, and safety. Regular pruning helps your trees grow strong, ensures proper airflow, reduces disease, and prevents potential hazards.

Here are some key benefits of regular tree pruning:

Improved Tree Health: Pruning helps remove dead or diseased branches, promoting new growth and reducing the risk of pest infestation. By removing these areas, the tree can focus its energy on healthy parts.

Enhanced Aesthetics: Well-pruned trees not only look better but also contribute to the overall beauty of your landscape. A well-maintained tree can add curb appeal to your property.

Safety: Overgrown or weak branches can pose a danger, especially in windy conditions. Pruning helps eliminate branches that could fall and cause damage to your home, car, or other property.

Increased Property Value: Healthy, well-maintained trees increase the value of your property. Whether you are selling your home or simply want to enjoy your outdoor space, proper pruning can make a big difference.

Why Choose ArborPlus for Tree Pruning and Care?

At ArborPlus, we are committed to providing expert tree care services to homeowners and businesses in Salt Lake City, Davis County, Utah County, and surrounding areas. Our team of certified arborists is equipped with the skills, knowledge, and tools to deliver exceptional pruning and care services that enhance the health and safety of your trees.

Here are some reasons why ArborPlus is the best choice for your tree pruning needs:

1. Certified and Experienced Arborists

Our team consists of highly trained, certified arborists who have years of experience in tree care. We understand the intricacies of each tree species and how to prune them effectively to ensure healthy growth. We pride ourselves on staying up-to-date with the latest tree care techniques and industry best practices.

2. Comprehensive Tree Care Services

In addition to tree pruning, we offer a full range of tree care services including:

Tree Trimming: Regular trimming helps maintain a tree’s shape and structure. Our arborists ensure that your trees are trimmed properly, without over-trimming, to promote balanced growth.

Tree Removal: If a tree becomes too damaged or poses a safety hazard, we offer safe and efficient tree removal services.

Stump Grinding and Removal: After tree removal, we can grind down or remove the stump, allowing you to reclaim the space for other uses.

Tree Health Assessments: Our team conducts thorough health assessments to detect issues such as disease, pests, or poor growth, and we recommend the necessary care to improve the tree’s health.

3. Local Expertise and Community Commitment

As a locally owned company, we understand the unique tree care needs of Utah residents. Our arborists are familiar with the local climate, soil conditions, and tree species, which allows us to provide the most effective care for your trees. Whether you're in Salt Lake City, Davis County, or Utah County, we’re your trusted local tree care provider.

4. Safety First

Tree care can be a hazardous task, especially when dealing with large branches or trees near structures. At ArborPlus, safety is our priority. Our team is fully insured, and we follow strict safety protocols to ensure every job is completed without incident. We use the right equipment for every task, whether it's pruning, trimming, or removing a tree, to protect both your property and our crew.

5. Efficient, Reliable, and Affordable Service

We value your time and aim to complete every project in a timely and efficient manner. Most of our pruning and tree care projects are completed in a single day, including cleanup. We also offer competitive pricing to ensure that you receive the best value for your tree care services.

When Should You Prune Your Trees?

The timing of tree pruning is critical to ensure that your trees grow strong and healthy. While some pruning can be done year-round, certain types of trees benefit from pruning at specific times of the year. Here are some general guidelines:

Late Winter/Early Spring: This is typically the best time to prune most deciduous trees (trees that lose their leaves in the winter). Pruning during this time allows the tree to heal quickly as it begins to grow in the spring.

Summer: Light pruning during the summer months can be beneficial for certain species. This is especially true for removing dead or diseased wood.

Fall: It’s generally best to avoid pruning in the fall, as trees are preparing for dormancy and pruning can stress the tree. However, if there are any safety concerns, such as hanging branches, they should be addressed immediately.

How ArborPlus Can Help You

At ArborPlus, we tailor our services to meet the specific needs of your trees and property. Whether you have a single tree in your yard or manage a large commercial property with multiple trees, we have the expertise and equipment to handle the job. Our goal is to help you maintain the beauty and safety of your landscape while ensuring the long-term health of your trees.

Contact ArborPlus for Quality Tree Pruning and Care in Utah

If you’re looking for professional tree pruning and care services in Utah, ArborPlus is here to help. Our team of certified arborists is ready to provide the expert care your trees need to thrive. From tree trimming to health assessments, we offer a comprehensive range of services that will enhance the health, safety, and beauty of your trees.

Don’t wait until your trees become a hazard or lose their beauty. Call ArborPlus today at 801-485-8733 to schedule an appointment or request a free consultation. Our team is here to help you maintain healthy, beautiful trees for years to come.

[westcoasttree]

Top Tree Trimmers & Local Arborists for Safer Property in California

Looking for expert tree trimmers and local arborists near you in California? Our professional tree trimming and care services enhance property safety and landscape beauty. Our skilled local arborists provide reliable, efficient solutions for all your tree care needs. Contact us today to ensure your property is well-maintained and beautifully landscaped.

Visit us for more information - https://westcoasttreeco.com/tree-cutting-removal-services/

[fweakofcydonia]

Searching for the Perfect Tree Company to Trim my Trees | Tree Trimming Services in Nashville

Maintaining the trees in your yard is crucial in ensuring the safety and beauty of your property. Tree trimming is one of the essential maintenance tasks that homeowners should always prioritize. It improves the health of the trees, enhances the aesthetic appeal of your yard, and reduces the risk of accidents caused by fallen branches.

However, tree trimming is not a task to be taken lightly. It requires skills, knowledge, and experience to do it safely and effectively. It's advisableto hire a professional tree trimming company to do the job instead of doing it yourself.

But how do you find the right tree trimming company for the job? Here are some tips for searching for a tree trimming company on the internet:

Start with a local search The first step in finding a tree trimming company in Nashville is to search for a local company. Google 'tree trimming' together with your locality or zip code. This search will generate a list of local tree service companies in your area.

Check out company websites Take some time to look at each company's website. A professional and informative website can give you a sense of the quality of services a company offers. Ensure the websites have essential details such as the services they offer, their experience in the industry, and contact information.

Read online reviews Online reviews can provide valuable insights into the quality of services that a company offers. Check out Google Maps or other online directories to look for reviews from past customers. A company with many positive reviews is more likely to deliver quality services.

Consider certification and experience Look for a Nashville tree trimming company that has certified and experienced arborists. Certified arborists have the necessary knowledge and skills to handle different tree species and other vegetation. They also adhere to the industry's safety standards and guidelines.

Check for proper licensing and insurance Ensure the tree trimming company you choose has met all the state and local licensing requirements. A licensed company is a sign that it’s a legitimate business. The company should also have insurance to protect your property and their workers in case of accidents.

Get multiple estimates Once you have narrowed down the list of potential tree trimming companies, request estimates from them. A reputable company will provide you with a free estimate by visiting your property and assessing the services required.

Final thoughts

Finding the right tree trimming company can seem like a daunting task, but doing proper research and following the above tips can make a difference. Choose a company that meets all the requirements, has a proven track record of delivering quality services, and has mindful customer service. By doing proper research, you can protect your property, get value for your money, and ensure your trees remain healthy and vibrant.

[luketreeworks]

Why Hiring a Local Arborist Matters for Tree Care

[chigwelltreeservices1]

A professional tree surgeon in Abridge ensures safe tree care, preventing hazards like falling branches or diseases. They have the expertise, tools, and knowledge to handle pruning, removal, and maintenance efficiently. Hiring a pro protects your property, enhances tree health, and ensures compliance with local regulations.

[reasonsforhope]

"To mark the birth of their first child, Sienna, in 2018, Kevin and Kelly Williams planted a tangerine tree in their Lahaina yard. When their second child Malia arrived in 2020, they added a lime tree.

But the trees never had a chance to bear fruit before the Aug. 8, 2023 wildfire destroyed them, along with the Williams family’s home, their property management business and most of the town.

Now, on their new property in Ukumehame about 15 minutes south of Lahaina, the family is growing a much bigger bounty — about 220 trees, all native species, that one day will return to the backyards of families like theirs.

“Absolutely amazing to be able to think one day we can drive through Lahaina and see the trees that we helped raise,” Kevin Williams said. 

Over the past year and a half, a sprawling network of volunteers, local farmers, nurseries and hotels have stepped up to host thousands of young trees growing in pots that will be replanted in Lahaina through the Treecovery Hawai‘i project. 

Since launching in November 2023, the initiative has bloomed into 6,200 trees being cared for at 25 grow hubs, with about 160 already replanted at the handful of homes that have been rebuilt in Lahaina and Kula. While displaced families focus on returning to their homes, the volunteers are making sure the trees and the soil are nurtured and ready to shade and feed the community for years to come. 

“It really does a lot to people’s minds and hearts when they see growth and they see that rebirth of the land,” said Duane Sparkman, founder and president of Treecovery and chair of the Maui County Arborist Committee. “Restoring the ‘āina from the soil up is what we have to do.” 

THE ROOTS

When 59-year-old Ekolu Lindsey talks to relatives from his dad’s generation about Lahaina, the smell of mangos comes to mind. Everyone had their favorite fruit trees in Lahaina, and oftentimes they were the ones in their own yards, said Lindsey, who lost his Front Street home in the fire. 

“All those stories, it’s the memories of home. It’s all part of who we are as people,” said Lindsey, a Treecovery board member and head of Maui Cultural Lands, a nonprofit that works to protect and restore Hawaiian resources across the island.

Lahaina was historically home to a canopy of fruit trees, including breadfruit, which gave rise to the name Malu ‘Ulu o Lele, “the shaded breadfruit grove of Lele.” They helped create a cooler climate, capture rainwater and mitigate soil erosion, independent researcher Adam Keawe Manalo-Camp wrote in the Office of Hawaiian Affairs’ “Ka Wai Ola” publication. The removal of breadfruit trees and diversion of streams to pave the way for sugar cane production in the mid-1800s dried up the once productive landscape and opened the door for invasive species. 

The 2023 fire again razed the trees of Lahaina — about 21,000, according to Treecovery’s estimates — and burned so hot that it likely killed microbes in the soil as deep as 18 inches underground, Sparkman said. In Kula and Lahaina, federal workers scraped 6 inches of soil off the top of each property and tested it for contaminants before people were allowed to rebuild. 

Struck by how barren the land was, Sparkman and his team launched Treecovery with the goal of growing 30,000 trees to replace what Lahaina lost. Lindsey sits on the board along with Matthew Murasko, Rodger May and cultural adviser Archie Kalepa. 

The idea was to establish grow hubs where trees could be nurtured until residents were ready to plant. The Royal Lahaina Resort, where Sparkman is the chief engineer, served as a staging site before the very first grow hub opened with 125 fruit tree saplings at the Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club in April 2024. 

The network grew to nearly every corner of the island, from the Kā‘anapali Beach Resort to the Fairmont Kea Lani to the Kahului Airport and independent growers in East Maui. It’s a labor of love where the on-site workers or volunteers water, weed and transfer the plants to larger pots as they grow.

Treecovery takes requests for trees on their website, buys them from local nurseries and transports them to the grow hubs where they are cared for and labeled with the names of the families they will be donated to, according to Murasko, an entrepreneur, product designer and brand builder who met Sparkman while volunteering in Honokōwai Valley 17 years ago. Murasko said they’ve raised about $600,000 and that they pay full price for the trees and pots to help support local businesses. The trees cost about $100 each but can get as expensive as $2,000 for a 65-gallon mango tree or $3,000 to move and install a large palm tree, Sparkman said.

There are a variety of trees, including native species like koai‘a and ‘a‘ali‘i; fruit trees like Mapulehu mango, dwarf avocado, peach and citrus; and flowering trees such as plumeria and puakenikeni...

Sparkman, a longtime landscaper and former scientific biological technician at Haleakalā National Park who has been honored for his organic landscaping practices, said Treecovery wants to return the natural system of healthy microbes into the soil. 

The steady recovery of the iconic 150-year-old banyan tree is proof that it can work. Sparkman said it’s grown “leaps and bounds” more than they expected with the help of 500 gallons of microbial life, rich with fungi and bacteria that trees need and pests can’t survive in. 

“It takes years for nature to put it back, but man can help it by pulling these indigenous microbes and moving it for nature,” he said.""

-via Maui Now, April 28, 2025

[hope-for-the-planet]

I included some highlights from the article here, but I highly recommend reading this whole thing.

We hear so much about how wildfires that move into towns or cities devastate communities--but once the blazes have finally been extinguished the news usually moves on to the next crisis and we don't get to hear about how these communities and outside helpers rally together to rebuild afterwards. Including regrowing the trees and gardens that help provide shade and food security to neighborhoods.

From the article:

"The Altadena Seed Library, a network of seed exchange boxes, is leading the charge. Raj’s project began in 2021, with several little seed libraries stationed around the community. Seed libraries mimic regular libraries, but instead of books, people check out (and use) envelopes of seeds for free. Now, Raj and other volunteers are working on a game plan for regrowing the lawns, gardens, and urban green spaces that combat shade inequity and increase food sovereignty in their neighborhood — and looking to learn from other communities that have also seen their landscapes drastically altered by destructive wildfires. Donated seeds and tools are pouring in from locals and places around the country, as well as compost, pots, trees, and personal protective equipment for people cleaning up the hazardous waste leftover from burned homes and melted cars. “We’ve had a pretty overwhelming response,” Raj said. “People have been so, so generous.” Individual volunteers and organizations like Club Gay Gardens, a nonprofit in nearby Glendale, are helping sort the donated seeds. [...] Replanting efforts in Paradise, California, where the Camp Fire killed 85 people in 2018, and Lahaina, Hawai‘i, where a wildfire killed 102 people in 2023, offer inspiration as to what responsible reseeding can look like post-fire. Wildfire survivors from up and down the West Coast have already reached out to Raj, offering to help Altadena. “It’s so unfortunate to be bonded in that way,” Raj said. “It also feels really beautiful that those connections can grow out of something so tragic.” The Federal Emergency Management Agency helped test for soil toxicity in Paradise, eventually scraping the contaminated top layers away. But replanting efforts were left to residents. “None of this would have happened if it weren’t for these community groups that all came together,” said Jennifer Peterson, a Paradise local who saw her house, plus a seed library and two community gardens she worked on, destroyed. Peterson and other community members worked hard to safely reestablish old food sources. In 2020, several groups and 300 volunteers joined forces to rebuild — in one day — a nonprofit arts and culture center whose public gardens provide compost, seeds, and produce for free. Grant money allowed organizations like the Butte County Local Food Network to prepare 150 garden boxes and deliver them to people’s homes, complete with new soil and plants. Being part of efforts to regrow people’s food — and her front yard, which now teems with native wildflowers whose seeds survived the fire — has helped Peterson heal. “It was kind of like therapy for everybody,” she said.   In Lahaina, on Maui, where an estimated 150,000 trees burned, replanting efforts so far have focused on fruit trees that will eventually provide food and shade again, said Duane Sparkman, chair of the Maui County Arborist Committee and cofounder of Treecovery Hawaii, a nonprofit focused on replanting Lahaina.  So far, Treecovery Hawaii has raised half a million dollars to purchase trees at full price from local nurseries and give them to families who are rebuilding. The organization has established several hubs to grow more trees, and Sparkman said he’d like to buy a larger nursery space on central Maui. A detailed planting plan created by Maui County lays out what types of trees should get planted on the island, as well as the care they need.  Over 200 trees have been planted or are in pots on-site, ready to be put in the ground. That includes a mouthwatering array of fruit trees — mango, jackfruit, starfruit, avocado, citrus, and banana — fragrant plumeria and orchid trees, and native species like wiliwili, milo, koa, and lauhala trees. “Knowing that we’re going to be part of what’s eventually going to be the canopy for our grandchildren is immense for us,” Sparkman said."

[sun-snatcher]

( credits to @winterswake for this phenomenal gifset ! )

3/? | SEAWARDS, TO YOU. ; REPENTANT!AU

summ.  A continuation. Sauron learns what it means to be human— and what it takes to be one. or: Sauron experiences the best & worst of mortality. pairing.  (Repentant!Mairon/Sauron) Halbrand / f!reader , ( established in #SEAWARDSTOYOU ) w.count.  4k a/n.  Important tags in first chapter ! Warnings for implications to PTSD & slight horror , including Non-graphically implied Animal Death.

THE BARNACLES STARE.

They’re overgrown; marrow-white and clinging onto the cracks of the salt-licked rockface, breathing and blinking at him like the thousand, ever-watchful eyes of the Ainur. 

In his dreams, every single one turns to blazing stars that wink out in an instant as he passes them. The shadow of Morgoth is a powerful darkness: it can dim them into lightlessness and nothingness. He tells them he is neither Morgoth nor Melkor nor Sauron nor Mairon, that he is something new; something different— but they can’t hear him under the sheet of waves crashing like a tempest on the shores, pulling him down, down, down, and under.

(He drowns. Rarely does he choose to fight the currents.)

In other vivid dreams, the barnacles don’t listen. They don’t because they can’t listen; because they’re dead and lifeless and the colour of their shells look eerily vertebral and bone-faced. They’re skulls, he later realises. A thousand of them. Endless. Both young and old. Their missing teeth and gaping maws, frozen in terror, roll in masses that wash in from the bloody tides and take up the shore beneath his feet. They fracture and splinter and cry out in pain when he walks on where soft sands ought to be, begging for mercy with every black step he takes.

He wakes up restless. He wakes up mortified. 

A forest fire rips through Eldalondë.

It dies out as quick as it had come, however; by the grace of the Valar and their blessed storms! The Faithful cry.

“Blessed,” Galadriel hears Halbrand scoff underneath his breath. They’d both sailed down the river Nunduinë with the other locals to help with clearing out whatever the blaze had left in its wake, and the very air now is clogged with residual smoke and the stench of death. She doesn’t comment on his muttering. (He had yet to heal completely from the rope burns in his palms from when they’d been stranded at sea, after all.) 

“You think it’s a sign?” asks one of the arborists. 

A grave weight seemed to have sunken into Galadriel when the scent of the Mellyrn had greeted her, and she’d been brought to the heart of the massive grove, where she lay a hand on the now-sundered tree.

“These very trees were brought as seeds from Aman by the Eldar of Tol Erresëa. Elros Tar-Minyatur himself had hand in planting these.” She remembers Elrond, too, had come to sail and plant a tree of his own here. The forest had been so young then, in the early years of the Second Age. Now the woods seem unsettled— even the very winds that blow between its spaces.

“Not idly do the trees of Valinor burn,” she finally warns. “Even when ensnared by lightning.”

Halbrand had seen it from afar, coming downwind from the riverbank: the tree’s colossal trunk— thick as a Dwarven-hewn mountain pillar— torn in its center from the high canopies of branches, snaking all the way down to the spindly stretch of roots. The bolt of light had rent an ugly, gaping wound into its silver bole, hollowing out the wood and carving it out to look like a glaring crack into the Unseen World.

He can still see the gleam of red embers between the bark of the tunnelled tree.

He can still hear it crackling in its seams, even.

Or… no. That isn’t the fire— 

“Galadriel!”

Mallorn branches grow great and wide, so it takes out an entire stable when it crashes down. 

One of the horses get caught underneath. 

They cannot move the branch. (It wouldn’t do any good, even if they did.)

Abârzî, the sea-cadet weeps, stroking the mare before he went to braid the hairs of her tail and cut it off. He chants it like a prayer.

Abârzî. Abârzî. Abârzî.

(No one has the heart to finish the job.

Halbrand does not exactly offer— but they don’t stop him either when he begrudgingly enters the stables for them.)

“What was he saying?” Sauron asks, after, in some poorly attempt to clear his mind.

“Her name,” Galadriel translates, solemn. “Abâr holds several meanings. It stands for strength, might, endurance. ‘One of Valiance’, even. Perhaps: ‘Admirable one’—”

It’s the first time Mairon ever experiences throwing up.

Galadriel sits beside him, and doesn’t say a word more.

He’s glad. 

Or, maybe he isn’t.

He doesn’t understand what he feels these days.

The wine Sauron pours to the raven-haired elf in his dreams is thick.

Too thick to be wine— but just as deceptively sweet.

On other nights, he pours and it keeps going, and going, and going. It gushes down his palms and down the nameless peak he’s standing in, and cascades down the cliff- like a thundering waterfall— no, an open wound. Sometimes the elf pushes him forward from the back, and it stings like a stabbing betrayal. (Other times, Mairon simply chooses to fall.)

When he plummets, it’s into red seas. It feels like wading through molasses; exhausting a pain into his limbs more than the dull ache at his nape and the throb of his suffocating lungs. Then there’s the twinkle of starlight throwing him off every time he swims. He always mistakes them for the night sky, and he blindly reaches towards the surface— until they turn out to be the white-faces of barnacles instead, attached to the maws of a sea-wyrm deep in the ocean.

Tonight, however, he swims in the right direction. 

The raven-haired elf pulls him out with a trusting, helping hand wrapped in a gauntlet; and when Sauron breaches ashore, he’s not kneeling at his feet on sands or bones, but instead on the all-too familiar cracked, black stones of his old fortress up in the bleak frigidness of Forodwaith.

Mairon is garbed in soaking red robes.

This time, Adar coronates Sauron not with Morgoth’s crown, but with a rotting horse skull named Abârz—

“You have a strange shadow, ‘Maril,” Eärien tells you, not long after you’d come down to Nísimaldar to assist in the clean-up effort. “It’s shaped like… a funny-looking man who always seems to look as if he’s rolled around in the dirt for ten hours.”

You blink, puzzled, then turn to where she’s peering over your shoulder.

Halbrand’s eyes dart away just as you meet his gaze. 

“Friend,” you correct, levelling an unimpressed glare back at your table of teasing looks. “Halbrand is a friend.”

Isildur raises his brows once you begin gathering another fresh bowl of seafood. “Don’t forget the oysters. I hear they’re great for men’s libid—”

“Shut your mouth when you eat,” comes your sharp flick at his ear, going to leave as the rest of the cadets break into laughter. “Even Berek has better manners than you, airhead.”

Halbrand, shaded under a temporary forge set up by the treeline near the half-constructed stables, senses you long before he hears your voice. You’re appraising him again. He can feel it. It reminds him of the barnacles staring, and he has to actively remember not to be instinctively beset.

You’ve been kind, after all.

Frustratingly so. 

And Sauron, as uncertain as he has been of everything (and by everything, he means his entire simulacrum of an existence— or, reincarnation? Re-embodiment?) of late, is smart enough to know not to bite the hand that feeds him. You’d made it clear that night in the forge, after all, that you’re a friend. And if not that, then at the very least— an ally.

So it’s no surprise he sets the horseshoes he’s working on aside, and relents to your plate of food. It is a surprise, however, when a few minutes later you go:

“Thank you, by the way.”

He shuts your train of thought down before it can take off.

“Don’t start,” Sauron says, voice a low rasp. He knows where you’re going with this: You’ll thank Halbrand for going out of his way to help, for lending a hand with the rebuilding, for putting down a boy’s dying horse. He wants nothing to do with it. 

“Then I want to—”

“Don’t apologise either,” he interjects, failing to hold back the mild bite. (So much for biting the hand, huh?) 

Sauron had chosen, anyway, to take it upon himself to toil away in the forge, from sunrise to sundown; Dedicating himself to aiding the reconstruction by crafting everything from bridles, stirrups and bits, to metal brackets, hinges, and nails. He’d toiled because it focused him; because he’s utilitarian at heart and so despises uselessness; because it helps blur the waking haunts of horses and the seas under the hissing and clanging of working metal. 

(Besides, there’s plenty to improve in this part of the island, and Sauron is the type to not count flaws and cracks but to instead step up and fix them.)

So there’s no place for you to apologise. 

“You work quickly,” you redirect instead, avoiding the urge to bicker with him. “Some might say almost tirelessly. Seems you’re getting into our good graces, from what I hear.”

“Well, you ought to listen closer.” Local gossip is difficult to not earwig, especially if the topic is about a low-man from the South; even more so that they don’t expect said low-man to have a passable fluency in Adûnaic. 

You don’t bother to hide the amused look on your face. “Right. Well. They do say eavesdroppers never hear but ill of themselves. What have you gathered, jailbird?”

“That I would be their downfall,” he says, then after a mouthful, goes: “That I would squander their resources and drain their waters and steal their women,” which makes you laugh.

“Númenórean women are not so easily taken.”

He hums at that. “And are you?” 

“…Am I what?”

“Númenorean.”

You blink. Halbrand levels a gaze you suddenly can’t meet. It’s a game he plays, you guess right then, between the crawl of heat up your cheeks. Of sharpening ulterior meanings into both sides of his words like one would a sword’s edge. 

(“The low-man said that?” Isildur titters, much later. “What a smooth advance! I ought to give him a—”

“Beheading,” Eärien overrides, “You do know he also effectively implied your sister may be easy?”

Isildur cheers. “And he’s honest? Outstanding!”)

“I believe I am one, and that’s enough for me,” you lie. The thought has crossed your mind before— that you may very well be an orphan descendant of those who had sided with the Enemy, once upon a time. That it’s likely you’ll die long before your own foster family does. 

“And if you’re wrong?” asks Halbrand. He enjoys making you squirm. “Shall that be enough?”

“Then so be it,” you wrinkle your nose, displeased yet matter-of-fact. “It doesn’t matter what type of life we’ve been chanced to be given, jailbird, so long as we live it doing the right thing.”

Until it becomes part of your nature, Sauron abruptly remembers Diarmid; of his words; the necklace he’d cruelly taken from the old man that stormy night. The advice had been unwelcome then, and now it seems to haunt him still.

“Is that your heraldry?”

Halbrand loosens his grip. His hand has been flying to the pouch out of habit, lately. “No.” Then, after you scrutinise him, cocks his head and says, “Is it so hard to believe we might quite be the same— Lost and found at sea?”

“You have a past,” you point out, the same way Elendil had chivvied you then. (If you had noticed him blink away in a flinch, he’s grateful you don’t mention it.) “But no, not so hard to believe, considering that’s precisely how my father found you too. It’s just hard for me to believe someone would be so willing to sever ties with their history.”

“I found this on a dead man.”

“Then why keep it?”

“Thought it looked fancy,” he dodges.

“A pearl is fancy,” you reflect, unconsciously flexing your fingers. The ring he’d caught the first day you two met lustres now at certain angles of the setting sun, beyond the horses grazing lazily in half-barren pastures.

Your answer is hardly a surprise to him. A bereft orphan would likely covet something as insignificant as a worn-out emblem if it meant a potential link to their true heritage, no matter how thin or nonsensical. Yours just happens to be a pearl.

“Beauty is subjective, seabird,” he comments sagely, before letting curiosity get the better of him to ask, “Is that from the tidepool, too?”

No, you want to say. I like to think my mother gave it to me. “Yes. It was in my grasp when my father found me; so came my name.”

Halbrand finishes his bowl, and doesn’t say a word more.

You’re glad.

“You know, I meant to say earlier, before you interrupted me,” you begin out of the blue, voice possessing that Nienna-esque lilt that makes him unconsciously want to shrink into himself. “…You shouldn’t have had to be the one.” 

He follows your gaze to one of the Bay horses being herded away. Its body gleams; a vibrant, rich red-brown in the dusk that needles a strange grief into him. The colour reminds Mairon of his old form. 

“You’re right, I didn’t,” he agrees distastefully. Needless suffering also falls under the realm of uselessness, however. Perhaps, in a twisted, roundabout way, Sauron had chosen to put down Abârzî. “…But I’ve done far worse things.” 

You watch him tuck the necklace away beneath his collar, and he wonders, briefly, if you’d caught his shudder; his waver. 

“To survive,” you emphasise. Surely.

He laughs under his breath. It’s neither sad nor sordid, just empty. 

“Not all of it.”

Sauron opens his eyes to a crowned shadow and a blade.

Do not fear, it says. And when its hand had come away with a fistful of his long, braided hair, cut from his blazing red head— it repeats itself to him again, though this time in the commanding tongue of Black Speech.

Do not fret.

(He frets, and begs. He disobeys because he’s terrified— but it’s all happening under his skin. Black Speech cannot completely overpower the mind, you see, but it can command and seed an intent in it; a sliver of power over the flesh, if willed so. He can fret and beg all he likes; it will never translate to his body. 

Now he’s just a vessel, still as a Bay horse caught neath a great tree, watching and waiting; helpless and paralysed.)

He catches the glint of the dagger but he cannot scream.

Do not fret, Morgoth commands, in that divinely, beautiful way only a Valar can make all guttural words sound. Do not fret, Abârzî.

Mairon startles awake.

When the candlelight flickers with the moon, he mistakes them for blood on his hands and a stable floo—

“Y’alright, brother?” Someone claps him on the back.

It’s noon, now. It feels like he’s woken up for the third time today. 

The stables are coming up nicely (Quickly, because Halbrand works when everyone else is asleep). The clouds are thick, so the day isn’t beating down on the horses as they feed on bran and alfalfa, and there aren’t any damning signs of coming rain to hinder what little is left of the reconstruction today.

“Never better,” Halbrand says, after steadying his heavy breathing. The perfectly delivered lie is somehow miraculously seen through, however, and promptly called out, via: an insistent pint of ale into his calloused hands that’s supposedly the ‘cure to all ailments’. 

He learns the old drunkard’s name is Seamus.

He learns a bit of everything to nothing, really; until the sun had sunken too far beneath the canopies of the Mellyrn, and the dappled light faded into drifting spots, and all that was left of their drinks was a final sip. Sauron had found himself both inexplicably refreshed and exhausted between the overload that managed to distract him from the cavernous feeling in his chest.

“It’s a swallow bird. We sailors tattoo it as belief it’ll lead us back home when we get out at sea,” says the old man, between a tangent on island customs and traditions beyond the primly ‘Nobody kneels in Númenor’ ones. “Why? Lookin’ to get inked yourself?”

Halbrand blinks.

He had composed as Mairon among the other Ainur in the Timeless Halls for the Ainulindalë, once upon a time; and then served, much, much later, as Sauron alongside Morgoth in the Iron mountains of Thangorodrim. Neither exactly had been something anybody would call a home— One was simply a state of Being far beyond Eä, and the other had been both a fortress and a prison. 

“Don’t have a home to return to,” is all he decides.

It sounds a lot like a realisation.

“Aye, well…” The drunkard flails his hand to the chilly winds. “Swallows mate for life.”

Halbrand frowns in confusion. Seamus just laughs, mad.

He doesn’t understand what the crazy old shrimp had meant, until two days later (of which Sauron still had only understood half of what was told to him, if he’s being honest) when the stables had at last been completed and the locals put together a small feast for everyone who had come together to help.

Crab legs had been the catalyst, oddly enough. 

Or, rather, how you seemed to move amongst the people-who-may-not-be-your-people, and spoke to your family-who-isn’t-actually-your-family.

“Here,” you say, and idly lay skillfully de-shelled crab legs and a lobster tail on your bright-eyed sister’s plate. Then onto your even-more-bright-eyed brother’s plate, before doing the same to those within your reach at the table, including Halbrand— sitting adjacent and at a length, because nobody quite fancied sitting next to a brooding stranger.

“I can de-shell my crabs on my own,” he had wanted to huff, put out by the way he suddenly felt impeccably small by your limitless grace and social-butterfly-ness, but one of the cadets had beaten him to it.

Your answer is a smile that’d made Mairon think of Nienna again, followed by a winsome, “I know you can.”

He lingers on what you’d told him ere a week ago, at the forge when you’d come to him saying he looked most at home with a hammer and tongs in hand, and drafts in his head something he tells you much later, which is:

“You looked different around your not-people.”

You’re wrapped in a pelerine cloak that seems to do little with the cold Mallorn-fragrant winds, here at the Bay of Eldanna, where you’ve somehow convinced him to follow you down to at the crack of dawn. (It’s not like he could sleep through the night, anyway, now that the stables are complete and there’s nothing left to busy himself with for the time being.)

It’s early enough that the carpet of stars in the sky shines the rocky shoreline a blinding silver, and only the lantern-lit trawlers far out at sea are awake to fish for teeming shoals of shrimps in season beyond the reef. 

“My not-people?” you yawn, gathering up your cloak and shift dress to toe between the rocks. “Ah. I get it. Because I’m an outsider.”

He raises a tolerant eyebrow. “I’m the outsider, seabird.” To which you answer, breezily, as if it’s a simple equation: 

“Not to me. If it helps though, we can both be outsiders together.”

He barely has time to wrap his head around together when you begin skipping across the tidepools.

“I meant,” he trails after you, ungainly and tender-footed to the shallows compared to your well-versed steps. He had not been raised by the sea like you. “That you looked at home; with your people. And tha— Eärmaril, why did you bring me out here with a bucket?”

You peer at the crevices of the outcrops, turning over black slabs with a trained eye. “Have you ever had soft-shell crabs? They’re active around this time of night, so watch your step. If you’re not getting pinched by their claws, you’ll get stabbed by an urchin.”

“You loon!” he exclaims. “You brought me here for a hunting trip?”

“Hush, now! Or you’ll scare the fur seals further down the coast,” you hiss over your shoulder. “And no. I brought you here because I know you won’t be sleeping, anyway.”

The blatant accusation has him slipping from a jutting rock face.

You catch his hand to steady him.

(He’s warm. Some part of you wants to pull him close.)

“I overheard the farriers. They say the only reason the stables got put up that quickly is because you worked through the night.” You inform him as delicately as you can, because there’s a recognisable, vestigial haunt in his eyes you’ve seen in your father’s, under the shimmer of Eärendil’s starlight. “Is it nightmares, Halbrand?”

“See, Amm— Mother saved Isildur when he was a child.” Nobody in the family prefers to say drowned except your father, because the word is bitter to the taste. “I was there when it happened. Couldn’t sleep for weeks after. Do you dream of the waters too?”

The defensive frown he’d put up melts away, but you can see Halbrand steel himself, still, in order to answer.

“I dream of barnacles,” Sauron allows, brusque so as to cut the conversation short as he regains his footing.

You let go and narrow your eyes at him. 

After a long moment, you conclude, resolutely: “Valar, you’re a terrible liar, jailbird.”

And Mairon couldn’t help it— 

He laughed.

(It sends your heart stumbling.)

“Believe me when I say, seabird, that if I were to deceive you, you would never know.”

“…Right,” you scoff, quick to turn away to hide the budding smile on your face as you carve his laugh and awfully handsome grin into memory. “Now, come and be useful, will you? Before the tide runs in with daybreak.”

He can do that. He likes to be useful.

So he does.

Sauron, however, gathers alarmingly quickly that he’s as helpful as an infant grappling the ways of the water for the first time. Some distant part of him enjoys it, though— learning. It reminds him of his long gone time with Aulë.

Learning to follow your effortless sea-nymph dance across the jagged shallows, memorising how to identify which rocks to flip and the right ways to harvest mollusks or crabs without risking a fingertip, all while unconsciously committing to mind the shanties you hum under your breath.

You tell Halbrand stories and Mairon listens despite the general inanity of it; because he’s a quiet sort, and because he likes the diluting distraction of it all. 

Little things, like how your mother had bequeathed the craft of pottery to you, or that your father had preferred to teach you to fight instead of fish (“I can hardly imagine that,” Sauron muses, which earns him a sharp look and a: “Well, you don’t seem the imaginative type, anyway.”); that Eärien’s artistic strength is adapted from her uncanny skill of observation, and that Isildur is often wayward because he’s as free-spirited as the sun.

The conversation whiles and goes until the sky slowly pales awake, and the fur seals begin to bark and bay at the shorebirds and skimmers diving close to the rolling surfs. When the stretch of Eldanna’s shoreline finally raises, peaks and tidepools drowning back below the cresting of blue seas, the both of you make headway back inland.

“I was telling the truth,” he says, abruptly, which made you stop in your tracks at the beach. Your cloak is billowing from the salt gusts, edges sticking to the wet of your ankles.

“You don’t have to tell me,” comes your honest answer. 

But he wants to. It feels right to. Here Mairon stands bearing witness to the intimacies of your life, while he had nothing to offer you in return beneath the veneer of Halbrand. It’s only fair to do the same. An exchange, if you will. It’s all he’s ever known.

He sets the bucket of skittering crabs on to the wet sand, and dips his feet at the lap of the tide. “I dream of the Dark,” Sauron admits. “Of a light I cannot reach. The ocean is always red— red as my hands— and the rock-faces are always white and blinking.”

Barnacles. You understand now.

“When I wake up, I feel like I’m bracing for something, but I don’t know what,” he says, which he’s quick to realise had been an instinctive lie, and so he amends it with an explanation. “Like I’m charging headfirst into the abyss, and I’m bracing myself for the impact. For a fight or a— punishment.”

Halbrand kicks at a bubbling bump in the water and out pops a shell. (It’s a whelk. Lightning whelk, if Sauron is being precise. He’d listened to you listing the different kinds an hour ago.) 

“Anybody home?” you peer.

“Mh.” Sauron assents and tosses the hermit back to the waves.

He looks at where the open sky meets the sea, thinks of the knee-high swathes of sea oats growing at the coastlines of Valinor if he’d set sail Westwards from Eldanna and choose not to look back. He entertains idly on the idea of home for a beast such as himself— if it’s even possible to tame savagery into such domestications. 

Then he resists on asking you if there’s a difference between making a home and inventing one (those are questions for another sleepless night, he supposes), and instead glances down to where you’ve stepped into one of the remaining tidepools and back out.

A smooth pebble with a perfectly circular hole in its centre, still damp from its discovery, sits in your palm.

“What in Eru’s name is that?” he furrows, watching you wink at him through the gap.

“A hagstone,” you say, unoffended. “My other brother Anárion has one, though he prefers calling it an adder stone. Ammê told us they were naturally-occurring talismans. They ward off anything evil and protects its keeper. Catch.”

He does so with attractive ease.

(…You commit that to memory, too.)

“You don’t actually believe this little thing, do you, seabird?” he asks, tossing the piece up in his hands.

His snort makes you roll your eyes. “See! You are the unimaginative type. Halbrand, it’s the nature of a thing that matters, not its form.”

Right. He’d forgotten you are You; who built a home in the people; whose wound is your geography and history— or lack thereof— and who’s chosen to anchor to Númenor, because your foster family is where you found your true port of call. 

“You Númenóreans are an odd lot,” he settles candidly, and curls his fingers around the hagstone.

“Odd?”

“Superstitious,” he clarifies.

“I prefer traditional,” you volley.

“Try paranoid.”

Your warm laugh breaks with the surf of the shore, makes him tarry on the sight and sound of you.

“Red sky in the morning; sailor’s warning…”

“Red sky at night; sailor’s delight,” Halbrand recites Seamus, scoffing humorously. “I mean… Boarding a ship right foot first? Nailing a horseshoe under the mast, laying a silver coin for Uinen or tattooing swallows to lead the way home? And no whistling on board, lest it’ll challenge the winds; Or so Isildur claims of Manwë.”

“Ah, but don’t forget—”

“—Never rename a ship,” he says in unison.

Halbrand shakes his head, but the fond look on his face is undeniable as you break out into another merry smile. Your plan to chase away his night-terrors seem to have worked perfectly. If you’d thought him handsome before, then he looks utterly divine now. 

“Well, I suppose you’re right. There’s another one, though,” you hum, eyes fixated at the gulls taking wing to and fro their nests, the trawlers sailing home with their morning catch. “Never ever bring harm to a seabird.”

He cocks his head. “If I didn't know any better, seabird, I’d say you were making a threat.”

“And?” you smile. “Do you, jailbird?”

“Do I what?”

“Know better.”

Halbrand laughs again. A charming peal of a sound, canine-wide and punched out. It makes your heart sing— makes you wonder when was the last time he laughed this freely.

“You!” he exclaims once more, but there’s a thunderdrum in his ribs to reckon with all of a sudden, from the way the first break of light begins to dawn on your face and the charming, affectionate grin flowering across it, and so he couldn’t finish his insult after all.

You offer him wine in his dreams. 

Soot blackens your fingers as he takes it, but the stains don’t seem to bother you.

Weighty is a hagstone in his palm.

The sea is blue and quiet—

And barnacles are just barnacles, now.

Footnotes in AO3!

[fungusqueen]

Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus gilbertsonii) I found by chance when my friend was running late for our beach date. I had heard there was a small local farm on this street and decided to drive around looking for it; I spotted this growing on a big eucalyptus tree! I happened to walk up just as the homeowner was pulling in her trash cans and we started talking about the fungus...she already knew what it was and told me I could harvest as much as I wanted!

There's a rumor/myth in the mushroom community (also written in a lot of mushroom guides) that say you shouldn't eat this mushroom growing on eucalyptus trees...because allegedly something in the eucalyptus can enter the mushroom and make you sick (with short-term gastrointestinal distress). I asked the homeowner about this and she says this mushroom has been fruiting on her tree for the past 10 years and she's eaten/cooked it and never had any issue.

I harvested some/set it aside for myself with the intention of doing my own "research" (cooking and eating) to debunk the myth but I haven't had time to cook it yet.

I brought some for 4 of my friends, with the warning that they may experience gastrointestinal distress, but they are still willing participants in my impromptu "study". One even told me he hoped it might give him diarrhea (because he's been constipated), so honestly this type of honesty and willingness to get diarrhea is the best case scenario for my "sample group". I will keep everyone updated here because I'm genuinely curious and I do intend to "study" people's alleged reaction to eating this fungus.

Anyway, the homeowner was lovely and I suggested she consult an arborist to test if her tree may be dying. This fungus causes brown rot, which decays the cellulose of the wood it grows in. She expressed concerns about it falling on her house or onto the street if it was dead inside.

I plan to revist next year to see if it's still fruting and if the tree is still there!

[westcoasttree]

Experienced Local Tree Arborists Providing Exceptional Tree Care in Southern California

Looking for experienced local tree arborists in Southern California? Our tree care professionals offer exceptional services to ensure your trees thrive. As a top-rated arborist tree service near you, we provide expert care tailored to your needs. Whether you need a local tree arborist or comprehensive tree maintenance, trust our skilled team for reliable and professional tree care solutions.

[world-where-weeble-writes]

𝓫𝓲𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓸𝓯𝓯 𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓷 𝓲 𝓬𝓪𝓷 𝓬𝓱𝔀𝓮

profiles 1: part-time suits, full-time baddies 🤭

yn: an editor just trying to get by. they're actually doing very well financially, but their kid is where the struggles come in. after the sudden and untimely death of their best friend sumin in a car accident, yn is saddled with ahri, sumin's four-year-old daughter. ahri is everything expected of a four-year-old, with the intuition and antics of someone at least twice her age. yn is still reeling from this semi surprise adoption, leading to some crashouts on their private.

jeonghan: clinical social worker specializing in adolescent care. his general devil-may-care nature earns him the trust of every kid that he's worked with. this man has seen it all when it comes to unstable families, even working with yn to get custody over ahri instead of her father. known to occasionally provide vague anecdotes about his clients online, because if there's anything that this man knows how to do, it's find loopholes in confidentiality laws.

joshua: owner and operator of maroon chai, the local cafe. the definition of using an interest to justify a passion project. quite possibly the most successful fanboy this town has ever seen. he's incredibly well-connected, his kind eyes and warm smile inviting his customers to spill their guts while they fill them. the gang doesn't know when he sleeps, as he's known to leave the lights on long after close to continue a particularly riveting conversation.

junhui: owner and operator of moonlit trove, the local thrift shop. is borderline taking the "small" out of small business, as the shop is booming, especially at night. everyone thinks he's a little bit strange, and some even believe that his eyes can pierce the veil between the living and dead, which only adds to the allure of his merchandise. yn's ex-boyfriend-turned-best friend, and a hopeless romantic to boot.

soonyoung: high school dance teacher with a competitive spirit that rivals a professional athlete and a work ethic that rivals a drill sergeant. nevertheless, his bond with his team runs deep and is the biggest hype man for his dancers. it's commonplace for him to disappear for weeks at a time in the spring. he's not dead, he's just in the cleanup and competition trenches.

jihoon: freelance worker from hell. no one knows what he does, and he delights in his friends' confusion and dedication to figuring him out. he's a closed book, it's wasted effort. jun is convinced that he has mob connections and the joke (read: VERY REASONABLE THEORY) has just kind of stuck. he has not and likely will not confirm nor deny the allegations.

seokmin: arborist on a mission. intensely dedicated to environmental consciousness. has free entry into every national park and is known to just zoom off to the other side of the country without much notice. "where's seok?" "oh he went to jeju for the weekend, something about a preservation conference?" "WHAT?!"

masterlist ↭ profiles 2 ↭ profiles 3

🏷️: @leejenoenthusiast @dibidibidismynameisleeknow @jae10velies @spacejip @winwintea @polarisjisung