Timber...

The tree had to come down and we knew it. Still, putting the chainsaw to the trunk and cutting it down was a little tough. I'm going to miss that tree.

It wasn't the tree's fault. We were giving a tree start years ago and we thought putting it on the southeast corner of the house would be a good place for it. We didn't know the thing would explode in growth over the years. The thing got huge, and to make matters worse, we put in our irrigation system in back when the tree was very small. One of the irrigation stops was next to the tree. We were afraid if the tree continued to grow, we would have to move the water lines.

The chainsaw made light work of the test; it was almost too easy. Within 30-40 minutes it was gone, limbs on the street ready for the city to pick up and logs put away to use for fuel. Now, it's strange to look south and not see the big beautiful tree that once was. It's like losing a tooth, or getting a haircut. It's going to take some getting used to until it's not weird not seeing the tree.