The Palm Trees

Husband is sitting in the back yard staring at a tree! No joke . . . He is in the lawn chair watching a couple of workers cut branches off one of our palm trees. But this is not something new. He often sits in the yard and stares at the palms. He is obsessed with the trees. They occupy much of his time and enter into almost every conversation with anyone who comes to our home.
Living in South Florida we are surrounded by palm trees. I never knew there were so many types and that most of them are NOT native to this area. And that is all I know or care to know about palm trees. They are very lovely, they provide shade and they do not require any care. Or so I thought. It seems that all palm trees produce some sort of "off-spring". The most familiar is the coconut. But then there are "date" palm and "grape" palms and heaven only knows what other palms. Our Palm trees produce PODS ! Think horror film of the past . . . Pod people invade the Earth . . .
well, that is what is growing in our trees. And they DRIVE MY HUSBAND CRAZY !! He is obsessed with these things. As soon as one starts to form he is out in the back pacing. Muttering about the PODS. Wondering how he can get up that high to cut them down. It is problematic because #1. The trees are over 10 feet tall and #2 they have spikes growing out of them close to the trunk. We have learned that in Florida most things that are growing have needle sharp spikes that are just waiting to attack you. On the occasions when Ger does get on a ladder to attack the PODS he comes out the looser with numerous punctures and wounds. These trees are VICIOUS ! That and the fact that a 70 year old man has NO business climbing on an 8 foot ladder all make it seem totally ridiculous to let these pods bother him. But the pods do ripen and open and drop the most God awful mess into the pool. (But isn't that why we have a pool boy?)
Anyway . . . there were landscapers working their way through the neighborhood today and for the paltry cost of $10 a tree the palms are now NAKED ! NO fronds, no pods, no shade ! But husband is happy so that is all that counts.