Here is a photo of our house, taken two years ago when our wonderful tree was still whole and unassaulted. It blocked the sun all summer and cooled our living room and porch. In the winter, all the leaves dropped away letting the sun stream in through the bay window, making everything cozy. The tree kept the rain off of the wheelchair ramp, so I could always make it to the car dry. It kept the front steps a shady place to sit with the grandkids and blow bubbles.
But this spring, the forces lined up against the tree. First was a series of severe wind storms.
They took most of the limbs off of the east side of the tree. A couple of months later, the power company came and cut out the entire west side of the tree. Evidently the limbs grew somewhat in the vicinity of the power lines - not anywhere actually close enough to touch, or fall on, or grow over to, but perhaps they just thought it would be easier to trim the front tree, rather than the back tree, that actually has power and phone lines running all through it!
So this is what was left of our beloved tree. It's hard to tell without the leaves, but the tree goes straight up in the air, and out over the street. It no longer shades the house or the porch. And if it doesn't do its good jobs anymore, that just leaves its bad job - it has roots growing through the sewer pipes. We've ignored it till now, the time has come. It has to go.
I wish I had video of Robert and Rob taking this tree down. The limb that almost came through the window. The limbs that hit and/or almost hit the ladder the guys were standing on while using the chain saw. In this photo, Rob runs in and pushes the trunk over, as it starts to fall backward onto Robert. Some law of physics was missed in their calculations.Dan arrived just after the trunk came down and helped with all of the cutting up, and hauling back, and sweeping up, and raking and all of the mess that occurs when taking down a tree this large.
So, here's our little house now. It looks so small and forlourn. We need to get the new trees planted soon. And Ill be happier in the spring when all the colorful bulbs bloom. I wonder how many years it will take before we have shade again?
