branch merging

[Richard Kenner]

    But I somehow find it hard to picture myself not creating a branch and
    delaying development work, be it part of my job or done just for the
    fun of it, and focusing exclusively on stabilization of the tree.  I'd
    like to think I'm not alone in this way of thinking, 

I agree.  "stabilization" is not a totally active process.  A large part
of the process, especially near the end, is a matter of allowing time to
elapse for major testing to be done.  The amount of actual "work" that
needs to be done will be going down throughout the period.