Many many (many many many) months ago, multiple branches from an enormous pine tree behind our house fell off and exploded in our backyard. The tree owner repaired the fence and patio. We have not yet figured out what we’re doing about replacing the plant that was killed in the fall.

We’ve been asking for years for the tree to be taken down because it looked ill and leaned over our house with each storm. If it fell altogether, it would land on the house. They finally agreed to take down the tree.

A crew showed up on Monday and climbed the tree, first taking off the limbs and chopping down the trunk as they climbed down. My stomach was in knots for them. But in a few hours, the tree was gone, leaving only wood dust in the backyard.

I’m sad about the tree but also relieved. This tree freaked me out for eleven years.

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Stop procrastinating. Go make your backups. Don’t have regrets.

Seriously. Stop what you’re doing for a moment. It will take you fifteen minutes, tops. But you will have peace of mind for days and days. It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.

As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

And now the blogs…

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But first, second, helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week. To read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• None… sniff.

Okay, now my choices this week.

Finding a Different Path writes about balancing the safety of sticking to your comfort zone to the excitement of new adventures and how the outside world sometimes impacts those decisions — from the huge (world stress) to the personal (avoiding the “family friendly” spaces and all that they bring). As someone who thoroughly enjoys going back to places and loves the lack of stress that comes with knowing a place, I stand behind this 100%.

Lastly, The Next 15000 Days thought she lost a part of herself, but it was there all along. Sometimes you need to go out into the world to get that reminder that side of you was with you all along.

The roundup to the Roundup: Goodbye tree. Your weekly backup nudge. And lots of great posts to read. So what did you find this week? Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between June 20 – 27) and not the blog’s main URL. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week. Read the original open thread post here.

This is a beautiful piece of writing. So many things So Relatable writes speak to me — her blog post about losing her dog got me through losing Beorn — but this in particular got under my skin.

She writes about having a singular dream and angling her whole life toward it. Sound familiar, friends? You grow up thinking you will do X, you do everything you can to achieve X, it feels like you may even be close to achieving X. But you don’t. And then you need to figure out what comes next. She writes:

I needed time and space to figure out if the dream I’d been clinging to for over 20 years was still possible, still relevant. And if it wasn’t, I needed to figure out what could take its place.

She’s talking about publishing, but I think it’s applicable to many dreams that are out there that are beyond your control. Even though she found a path forward where she could be creative without the publishing gatekeepers, she feels the weight of the old dream:

But that old goal still hung heavy over my head, and it made every step toward something new feel like failure. I was ready to loosen my grip on the past so I could reach for something else.

She is such a talented, smart writer. She always makes me think, and I’m grateful that she keeps resharing the lessons she has learned.

I really liked this framing of looking at your life like a video game. If the boss battles are the big things driving you through life (career, relationships, etc.), then it follows that any good game contains a few side quests.

Matt Rutherford defines that as “a mini-adventure that sparks energy and creativity—without the pressure of success or failure.”

It’s all about zero-pressure projects that may (or may not) grow into something meaningful. The point is not to try to make them meaningful. When you do, you’ve moved it from a side quest into something much heavier. He gives you 20 side quests you can start today if your mind is blank.

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

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One of the most amusing things about Quentin is he absolutely hates birds. There was an enormous storm the other day — thunder, lightning, pouring rain — and I went to check on him. But he was just munching on some dry food and looked up at me with curiosity.

But if he hears a bird chirping outside — and he always hears birds chirping outside — he emits a low warning growl. And then I have to remind him that I don’t control the birds. And they can’t harm him. And they’re less annoying than so many other things in life. I don’t think he believes me.

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Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts connected to businesses or sponsored posts.

When I was little, I couldn’t wait to be 19. It’s a fun word to say in another language I speak, and I planned to say my age every chance I got. But I forgot all about it as I aged.

The night before I turned 20, I was getting ready to meet a friend for my birthday dinner. I remembered how much I wanted to be 19 when I was a kid, but I also realized it was the last day I would be 19, and I barely ever told anyone my age. I had wasted 19! I asked everyone to ask my age as much as possible that night. It was going to be the last time I got to tell anyone I was 19.

Luckily, I remembered this in time for my blog to turn 19. I get to have a full year of telling people that this site is 19. You know, for all those times that people stop you and say, “Hey, how old is your blog?”

Thank you for continuing to show up here and read the posts. It means a lot to me, especially now when the internet can sometimes feel very loud. I like my quiet space, and I’m glad you’re here, too.