Suburban Homestead

The tree guys showed up today.  We had called them for an estimate a couple of weeks ago, but today they finally got around to us.  It was a strange day – my husband had surgery on his knee yesterday, and I just happened to be home.  So I guess if they had showed up later this week, it would be a no-go, because there’s no way he could get back to the tree on his crutches.

They had a hard time with it.  Not only is it not too accessible from our yard, it leans over a ditch next to the road.  Hours later, after bringing in a cherry-picker truck, they got it down.   They did not cut it up into firewood lengths as I had asked, but I gave them a bye on that.  They actually ran into (they said) some metal in the trunk – maybe the remnanants of an old fence when this land was part of a pasture.  They ruined a chainsaw on it, whatever it was.  I did not have the heart to make them go further after that.  And I did not want anyone to be injured.  And they had already been cutting through a (rare for us) rainstorm.  I think we both got a fair deal.  At least I don’t have to worry about the tree falling on anyone now.

After they left, I went out with a flashlight and looked at the tree, or rather the pieces of it.  They left the trunk – about four feet high.  I put my palm on the wet wood and looked at the rings.  All the history of that tree laid out to see.  Fat rings and rings so narrow they almost blended into each other.  And right in the middle a star of cracks where the rot started.

This weekend, in the bright light, I will go out and count the rings.