Aw, don't get yer britches in a knot about the trees and the ramblin' bramble, @matt diggums. Sure, they're methodical, and ferocious, and insidious if you get right down to it in terms of how they eat everything that decomposes. But we live in a symbiotic relationship. And, as you note, they are mighty slow. With the exception of the occasional angry pine tree army.

You could say we're born with an advantage, that we move and live so much quicker than them. If you moved at tree speed, you'd see the ivy rushing at your feet from across the forest floor and shootin' up your sides and stranglin' your branches quicker than you can swing a bough.

On the other hand, the trees see us come and go so quickly they can barely be bothered by our noise. They're just thinkin' about how good you'll taste when you're in the ground.

There's a song they sing at Tree Service back in Timberland to greet the trees, but they only do it once a year because it takes 18 hours.

Aw, the Sadie Hawkins ain't headin' anywhere for a spell, I reckon, @Ryker. Capitan Armondo himself intimated to me that they've got another week or so, the crew havin' spent so much time aloft in transit and needing a little time on the ground. As long as you see those sky sailors staggering around campus, their ship is still moored and their tents are still open.

Plus, with their Cornocpuia Buckets, they've got cargo squirreled away for ages--more than this little pit stop could ever buy all up. Plus, The Sky Wolf always needs to make a special find in every port, and I get the feeling he hasn't quite found what he's lookin for as of yet.

Me, I made a trade. A pair of speakers I carved from the singing wood. Don't need to plug 'em in--they just make beatlutuful music by themselves. In exchange, a big sack of intriguing coffee beans I'll be starting to roast real soon.

Well bust my buttons! I've been waitin' a mighty long time for Armando's airship to return. I roast my own coffee, and I've just about drank through my whole last batch o' beans! Hope the Sky Wolf remembered to bring me somethin' tasty.

In the summer, it takes a heck of a lot to get me out of the woods and back on campus. But a drop-in by the Sadie Hawkins will do it every time. I think I'll saunter on over to Subliminal Field this very evening and pay the Capitan a visit.

That's right neighborly of you, @patrick. It's the first peaceful night I've had in weeks.

But who do you suppose built it? You said you had a mobile robotic assembly plant stolen, but is it possible it stole off with itself and started up on its own?

And, I've been meanin' to ask: what makes your steel so spacial?

Heck yeah, @patrick. That robot factory is still gettin' louder by the day. If you think you could do somethin' about it, I'd be happy to show you the way. Come by tomorrow at dawn and I'll treat you to my famous flapjacks before we head out.

I suppose I could file some kind of complaint with the Psychic Zoning Commission, but frankly I don't see that goin' anywhere. Like shoutin' down a well!

I'd hoped that @Adam Ranger could lend a hand, but now he's gone all evangelical on us and I'm not really sure which side he's on in this mess. They may be a lifeform, but they're downright invasive. Drivin' all the critters crazy, includin' me.

See you tomorrow, @patrick!

I found the source of the hubbub. It wasn't hard chasin' down the flattened undergrowth, or followin' the general racket. Plus, I had my spirit hounds racin' around me so I got a 360 degree picture. (Well, they're not really "hounds.")

What I found was a big steel ship of a building. Apteryx shaped, all burnished chrome. Plopped right down on top of a good chunk of forest. Doors opened up in it and gang planks came out, and the mechanical animals came and went all day.

What I also found was @Adam Ranger, sleeping peacefully in a meadow nearby. He woke up a bit disoriented, so I took him to the treehouse and nursed him back with some fresh coffee and waffles. Then he fell asleep in the hammock.

I've still got a noisy robot factory next to me in the woods I'd like to do something about. Maybe @Adam Ranger has some clues.

I'm not one to complain, generally, but these mechanical animals are becoming a nuisance. I live in the woods for a number of reasons, and one of them is certainly to escape the noise and vibratory pollution of the industrial world.

Nowadays, at all times of the day or night, there is an incessant noise from the woods. Now I'm not talking 17 year cicadas or elk mating or wild peacocks. I am talking about a very specific mechanical hum, like a factory, with occasional whistles a blowin' and sirens screechin'.

Playing the saw in the moonlight in these conditions is downright unpleasant.

I'm going into the woods to uncover the root of the problem. And to find out what happened to @Adam Ranger. And I'd like to talk to @Guy Jester, 'cept I don't quite go for enclosed spaces. So it's further into the woods I go tomorrow.

The frogs sure are raising a racket these days. I've had the shutters open on the treehouse, letting in that spring night air. And the frog song. @twinflower and @boooky feel it too. Life is starting to come out of everything.

I think those mechanical animals have been just moving deeper into the forest, @Adam Ranger. I've been seeing them in increasing numbers on my walks through the woods. Saw what looked like a ball of cables rolling across the forest floor just today, and a swarm of drones as fast and small as hummingbirds. Could be there's more food to eat in the forest now that spring is springing--they don't have to forage around human habitation for sustenance, like crows or raccoons.

Though I can't say I've ever seen one eat. Or leave any kind of scat.

Had some unexpected visitors today from the Psychic Crime Club. Seems there was a bit of confusion about where their meeting was being held.

I guess my treehouse has gained some notoriety, but it's my own private dwelling, not a public meeting place. It's the treeFORT they were looking for, which is that ramshackle one-room playhouse thing on lower campus.

I'm always happy to take a visitor and sit a spell, so I'm not trying to be unneighborly. Just tryin' to save you a trip if you're looking for a club meeting. Also, it's still a bit touch-and-go with the owls here in this neck of the woods, so if you're on the trails it's a good idea to puff out your chest and make a lot of noise so they don't try and adopt you and take you up to their nests.

Playing at the Valentine's Heart Throb Dance was a delight. My new Saw Sisters here at school really did me proud in our saw band - they played all the old songs even more sweetly than I remembered them. Even "It Does Make a Sound," which was always my favorite.

I went ahead and played lead saw, just because I had the most experience, but with @Silvia H. and @*Atlantica* on alto saw, @Midna on tenor, @Pete the Girl on the big ol' bass saw, and @Silverfawn up in front directing us all with her little fronds, we looked as heavenly as we sounded.

Didn't stay around for the rest of the dance, though. Religious reasons.

This month I've gotten into roasting my own coffee. I get the beans straight off the airship that comes up from down south. Zephyr Air Transport Inc. They've got all kinds of interesting stuff to trade, and I seriously suggest checking them out next time their dirigible is moored on campus.