TREE-SURRENDER

Adventure for the week - haircut/scalping of our messy willow tree. Our neighbor called from the lake with a dire story of winds blowing, trees dancing, limbs cracking-essentially hell breaking loose. All of which led to his, not surprising, fear of tree crashing, limbs falling, debris bouncing onto fence, house, lake, etc.  As I was busy the OH was swiftly dispatched to survey the current emergency. 

The initial report was yes there is a big branch with a precariously large crack in it. However it was handily resting inside a deep crotch made by two other sturdy limbs. Only problem, Willows are notoriously known for not being very sturdy and have a tendency to pull their roots up and away from large bodies of water. They really lean and bend when even slightly challenged. They also drip leaves and twigs continuously. The good news is they grow quickly and offer much shade. Dilemma - tree branch could live in its snug new spot for five years or come down in the windstorm predicted for the weekend. Not to mention its filthy "shedding" habits.

The suggestion was immediately vetoed that one of the guys was going to climb up the tree with a chain saw and I decreed professional assistance was required. One also had to consider the amount of wildlife inhabiting the tree. Two empty nests so it's a go. 

 Now why is it that no matter what service one needs- contractor, plumber, well driller, electrician, tree dude-nobody calls you back. I still believe there is a need in there for small business people to pool resources and hire one operator to at least return a call. They will still be too busy to handle your issue, but at least you would know "your call is very important to me" and you would have a name to badger down the road when no action  occurs.

After only two days, three companies, and several calls later a "tree dude" agreed to pop over and see what was required. Though Burt says I need to quit letting workers know somehow that I am a safety geek with credentials, it always comes up. Go figure. Because no one is going to DIE working on my house. Anyway a plan of action was determined and price negotiated. We naively said we could handle clean-up. Big mistake-always pay extra for the clean-up. Once the MIOSHA thing was brought up "tree dude" says "well better not watch then".  Ha ha.

To my delight, and relief, he pulled out a complete set of forestry personal protective equipment, tied himself into the tree and made busy with the chainsaw. We settled in our chairs to watch the fun. "Take out anything that looks shaky or cracked". Another big mistake. The ensuing pile was as high as the fence and all the way from the neighbor's deck to the waterfront. "Tree dude" jokingly says "I did you a solid and dropped most of it on the neighbor's side". Well he was the one that was worried.  Again Ha ha.

For the next hour and a half these old fogies including the neighbor, were cutting, hefting and dragging all the willowy trash to the front of the house for later disposal. Gosh that beer tasted good when we finished. Final assessment, that tree is going by-by this winter, but I'm springing for the clean-up. Don't have to whack me with a tree branch...again.