Goodbye Tree, Hello Neighbors.

Bradford pear trees are my least favorite kind of tree. Actually, I kind of hate them. Ok, I really hate them. Monday afternoon, the mature one in our yard lost a huge limb onto the neighbor's fence. Because the wood is weak, and the branch angles are weaker, instead of just losing one limb, the trunked had cracked into three parts. The whole tree needed to come down.

Surprisingly, my husband and I were both home. We got out our chainsaws (one electric, one gas) and went to work cutting the entire thing down. He did most of the hard part, since he is the very strong man. But I did help guide the branches down, away from any fences or other trees, with the help of some twine as he was sawing through them. The twine came untied once, and slipped off of the branch once, causing me to land flat on my ass. And bounce. With a little squeak/shriek. I'm so glad no one saw this, although Husband heard it. 
(This 44-year-old body isn't used to such strenuous manual labor. It's been reminding me all week. I'm STILL sore here and there.)

Thankfully, as we were running out of steam, my kids came home. I enlisted my son, and eventually four of his 12- and 13-year-old pals (bribed them with a promise of Sonic treats) to help us drag the limbs to the front driveway for pickup. Daughter had a mountain of excuse, er…, homework to do. Everything but the tree trunk is gone, thanks to the hard work of Husband, Son and his friends and, for a mere $17, the city has already claimed what will become next spring's mulch for the residents of my town. While it wasn't at all fun while I was doing it, not leaving it in the yard—taking care of the issue immediately—makes me feel great about having accomplished it all in one day.

There's a lesson that can be gleaned from this, I think. I didn't think much about chopping the tree down, but I really wanted it done—not sitting heavy waiting to be done, taking a chance on destroy a neighbor's fence or other trees, or a mess in the yard half-done. I wanted it done! So in the words of a very wise man I know, "Don't think about it, just do it." Then it will be done.

Thanks for reading,
Cami  =)

p.s. Two down, 98 more to go!

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