olive trees are notoriously tenacious. in their home territory around the mediterranean basin, they will send up shoots and suckers all the way around the circumference of their trunks if they are not pruned annually. part of maintaining an olive tree is simply damping down its mediterranean enthusiasm for life: yes, i know, olive tree. life is a beautiful thing. i know. i want to grow in all directions too. yes, the sun feels wonderful. but listen. you have to just calm down. you have to . . . no listen. just take a deep breath, and calm. down.

p.s. i did successfully find a usb cord today in montpellier. but when i went to download my images, they were all gone. i must have inadvertently deleted them while trying to see if i had wi-fi or not. in any case, i am back up and running, and back at it tomorrow.

olive tree sucker

autignac, france