Living in Potter-land

On Thursday night we went to my seventh midnight Harry Potter premiere.  At this point, going at midnight was more about maintaining the streak than anything else since 1) my schedule has changed since college, and it no longer feels natural or fun to stay up until 3:30 am, and 2) I have gained just enough patience in the last few years to wait 18 more hours to see a movie after work the next day.  And let's add to the list of reasons why the midnight showing was probably not necessary both 3) Travis really wasn't stoked about staying up for it and 4) the theater was bound (and proved) to be full of high-schoolers and people dressed as house-elves.  Actually the house-elf costumes were pretty clever, but you get my drift.  With all these reasons against the plan, it was sheer stubbornness that made it happen, (and the fact that Travis found out two of our friends were going as well; Travis loves any time spent with friends).
Turns out it was really fun (for me at least- have I mentioned Travis hasn't read the book?), and it proved to be much easier than I anticipated to get up at 6:30 the next morning for work.  It helps that my job isn't really tiring, I guess, at least it isn't tiring when I'm not traveling.  On a related note, did you know it was possible to have a job that wasn't exhausting?  I certainly didn't.  Every job I've had up until this point required much more standing and running around than it did sitting in front of a computer, and the examples I've had from my parents have only served to reinforce the idea that work is hard.  Work is work, and you come home tired.  But now I know that there are millions of people who sit all day.  These are the people, I imagine, who have the energy to go out late at night on a Thursday dressed up as a Slytherin, or on a Friday to go clubbing.  (I don't think there's a proper way to convey the way clubbing sounds in my mental voice.  Give a nice big pause before it, then a shudder, and I think you'll have an approximate).
Back to topic.  The reason I was thinking about Harry Potter this afternoon is because Sasquatch and I were spending some time out in our yard, and I realized that we have a little (and by little I mean big) reminder of the Harry Potter in our back yard.  Travis and I have our own Whomping Willow.

First off, let it be said that our tree is not a willow, and it does not (that I'm aware of) come to life and club people into running for the hills.  But there is potential there.  Were there to be a magical enchantment on this tree, I think it would perform admirably well at scaring away the neighbors and any rogue flying cars.  It has knots, gnarled branches, and even a few hundred inch-long thorns. 
When Travis and I first moved in, we tried to convince ourselves that the tree was mostly not on our property.  It wasn't that we thought about it; it was just instinct to try and shirk the monstrosity off on the neighbors.  There is a sweet little swing hanging from one side, but it's like a wolf that, instead of taking the time to put on sheep's clothing, just put on the sheep's sock and called it good.
See for yourself, in these really dark and terrible iPhone photos:

Whomping Willow!

Knots and gnarls

Branches covered in thorns!

So there you have it, magic in our backyard!  Or you could see it as just a really ugly tree, but I'm a glass-so-full-it's-brimming-over type optimist.