Dan Antion

Hold Hang On Me – #1LinerWeds

In the spring, we bought what we hope are fast growing Cypress trees for a corner of our yard where light from the street behind us pours in. We bought them online, which is not something I thought we would ever do. The trees were reasonably priced, packed carefully, shipped quickly and seem to be growing very well.

Later in the year, this company was having a sale on some trees that were “almost too big to ship.” Note: if you’re shaking your head and wondering if I am a marketing sap, the answer is yes, yes I am. We bought two Red Maple trees. One was badly damaged in transit and the company quickly replaced the tree. The replacement is doing quite well. In fact, the replacement is refusing to let go of its last leaves.

I decided to use the picture and some sappy lyrics from that “hold on” song. You know the one… Yeah, neither did I. Do you have any idea how many “hold on” songs there are? There are enough for John Holton to run Battle of the Bands from now to New Year’s Eve. Before finally finding the song I was thinking about, I seriously considered the following:

Hold On (Remastered 2010) – John Lennon

Baby Hold On – The Grass Roots

Hold Me – Fleetwood Mac

Hold On Loosely – 38 Special

The leaves only turn red in the fall. You can just see the color against the stormy sky.

Hold on just a little bit tighter

Tighter Tighter – Alive & Kicking

This post is part of Linda G. Hill’s fun weekly series One-Liner Wednesday. If you would like to join in on the fun, you can follow this link to participate and to see the one-liners from the other participants.

That’s MuMu resting in the sun.
This is a smaller burning bush in our driveway.
Our new little maple tree. It just won’t give up those last leaves.
Hi Smokey
MuMu was sleeping on Maddie’s Scooby-Doo blanket.
The burning bush is getting bright, On the left is a bit of those new cypress trees.
Maddie thought the picture would be better with her front feet instead of my head.
Maddie hasn’t adjusted to Standard Time. We are walking ahead of our normal time.
Jinx likes the highest branch.
Hi Jinx.
There’s a puddle on the court, but Maddie wasn’t interested in it.
Some trees at the end of the soccer field are still trying to be pretty.
Behind the Veterans Monument as the sun rises.
Waving in the bright sun
Early morning in the park.
A nice bunny photo for River.

68 comments

  1. That image of the dark red leaves against the grey skies is a beauty; the individual leaf forms get their due when the tree is hanging on to them like that. Your one-liner is very timely; I think I’ll take “hang on” as my mantra for the next month or so!

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  3. Dan’s talking gardening! I love it. :-) I’ve bought several plants online, and they are usually very good about replacing something. I ordered three blackberry bushes from Stark, one didn’t make it, and they sent me three to replace it. Can’t beat that. I love your burning bushes, and we had a couple in KS. Here in NH, they are considered invasive so I enjoy other people’s plants. You are one lucky guy to have those Cypress inside your fence so browsing deer can’t enjoy a snack at your expense. Here’s to them growing fast and blocking the light. Garden on, Dan. 🌲

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    • Thanks Judy. Gardening isn’t my forte, but we followed the directions to the letter, from soil prep to mulch. I hope it works. The two burning bushes have been here since we moved in. One is in between the driveway and the fenc, I’ve prune it back every year, but it keeps coming back. I hope the cypress grow well, They have all reached the top of the fence with their topmost branches, That’s significant. I hope you’re having a great week.

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  6. That last one was popular when I was young. “Hold on just a little longer” has been my mantra all this week because I’m so anxious for Dad to get in the residential care center before he wastes away. Also, “God is in control” has been the other. Trying to calm myself from worrying by saying that over and over. Luckily, Micheal will see him today around lunch, pray he takes him to his place today! 🙏🙏

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  9. Scooby-Doo looks good on MuMu. How long did Maddie agree with that one?

    I hope you have great success with your cypress and maple trees, Dan. Red maples are one of my favorites and they are pretty for all three seasons. May they grow tall and mighty!

    Happy Wednesday! Enjoy the rest of your week.

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  10. Hahaha! “You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me” is the perfect song! I can hear those red leaves singing it to the tree. “Hold On” is a perfect mantra for all of us. Sometimes that’s all we can do….hold on.

    My burning bush isn’t burning this year. Just green leaves turned yellow. 😭 so sad.

    I’m sure the cypress will live up to your expectations. Amazing how fast they grow.

    Maddie has a very good sense for what makes a good picture!

    So now Smokey has his own private podium? He knows how to stand out in a crowd!

    Old Glory, always a beautiful, comforting sight.
    Ginger

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    • I wish I had found that one, it really is perfect.

      The cypress are doing well, but we wish they were taller. The neighbor on the opposite side of the street behind us got a new outdoor light :(

      Smokey and Sammy all love to get up on the railing caps. I just power washed everything today. I’d like it if they stayed low, we can see them fine, but they’re going to go where they go.

      I hope you’re having a good week, Ginger. We made it over the hump.

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  11. First song I thought of was Eddie Money “Baby, Hold On” which is weird that the Grass Roots had the same song title, but totally different song.
    Maddie just glows, Dan. Such a beautiful girl.
    Your maple tree is so sweet, hanging on to its last few leaves. My neighbor across the street is having quite a few trees taken down (she has a very large property) and I am hoping one of them belongs to the raccoon who likes to visit my garage at night and ‘share’ the cats’ food. Now with the weather colder, I close the cats in at night, so good-bye little Rocky Raccoon.

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      • Yes, to the curfew for the cats. They come into the garage–we have it locked open all day long for them–at around 4pm,knowing supper is around 4:30. I close them in and we play around for a bit, then dinner, then they snuggle up on the big bed I have fixed for them. You know what’s kind of sad, though, is they don’t really know how to play. I spread some catnip on one of the scratchpads and Nugget loves it. White Paws looks at it, then jumps on the bed. No interest. They need to come inside with my girls and learn how to get crazy!

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  13. Lovely bunny and MuMu in the sun and on Maddie’s cot. Isn’t she even a little upset to see her there? And I listened to all the tunes you dee-jay for us, that’s why I noticed that the Fleetwood Mac tune leads elsewhere (to your email, ha!).

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  16. That’s the song that came to my head too. It’s one I really liked as a youngster. I think I had this on a 45 record at one time.

    I hope your new trees thrive! I love the maple trees. We put one here too. So far it’s doing well, but it didn’t hang on to its leaves as long as some other trees have this season.

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    • We planted what looked like the best one in the front yard. It shed its leaves fast. Ironically the badly damaged one seems to be doing OK. We didn’t want to throw it away, but we didn’t have a place to put it. If it keeps growing, we’ll end up taking it down at some point.

      This is the song I was thinking of. There are a lot of great ones.

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  17. Hi Dan – the maple trees will be amazing … I just hope the cypresses don’t overwhelm the garden … but I always love all the photos and staccato notations of life a la Dan and the Editor … take care – cheers – Hilary

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  20. “We bought them online, which is not something I thought we would ever do.” A great line, Dan. I thought that I would never purchase on line either – I would ‘hang on’ until the pandemic would be over and then go back to the shopping the old way. I have learned that hanging on to past ideas is not always the most optimum. The leaves do eventually fall to the ground to nourish what comes next.

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    • I’m glad you liked that Rebecca. We do mulch some of the leaves to feed the rest of what grows. We can’t let them all stay. Most are oak leaves from our neighbor’s tree. They are acidic which means I’d have to add lime and I worry about the dog’s feet.

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  23. I love red leaves. Not too many around these parts. Cypress do well here. They like swampy areas. We planted one in the area of the yard where water stands when it rains. Now our cypress is twice the size of our oak trees.

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  24. Dan! Best play list ever! I haven’t thought of the Grass Roots in ages, and I always loved them, so extra thanks for that one.
    MuMu looks so happy on that blanket. I adore that photo. Great to hear the new trees are doing well. If I find somebody to take out my dead half-dozen, I’ll ask you for the name of that place.
    Thanks very much for this post. Hugs!

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  28. Great fall photos! Red maple perfection, really. Like they were made to be seen against a gray sky.
    I used to order quite a bit from White Flower Farm, and I was never disappointed.

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