December 29 – “Landscaping”

Today we felled a tree.  Not just any tree.  The huge tree in front of our house is down.  And I have to say that the landscape around 7005 Sycamore will never look the same again.  We discovered last week that the big tree was on its way down.  It was beginning to rot from the inside out, and several cracks were forming in the front porch where the roots were pulling up as it leaned more and more toward the street.  Chris made me promise not to tackle the project alone, and today was the first day Nathan had off work.    We started out by learning the ins and outs of the new chain saw.  Didn't take Mr. Fireman long, though.  April kept asking if he wanted to look at the directions, and he kept chuckling and responding, "No."  Mixing oil and gas. Deciding where to begin.  Seemed like forever before we actually cranked the saw up and started cutting.  But when we did, it was great.  The big limb that stretched clear out to the street was our first target.  Everything went smoothly until we got down to the really thick part of the limb.  It was as big around as many tree trunks.  Nathan climbed up on the ladder with the saw and started cutting.  At one point he paused and looked back at me.  "Think it'll get me from here?" he asked.  He no sooner asked than the limb cracked, and fell right into the ladder.  The legs bent easily under the heavy weight, and in slow motion it began to fall with Nathan riding it the whole way do the ground.  Oh, and he still held on to the chain saw with one hand.  He was fine, but the ladder joined the trash heap.   After a lot of cutting and dragging, we finally got to the part we had both been waiting for – cutting the main trunk so the biggest part of the tree could fall.  Nathan walked around the tree three or four times, looking for just the right spot to cut.  April let us know that the instruction book had a section on how to cut down big trees.  Nathan scoffed again, but this time I snuck a peek.  He knew what to do, though. He started a big angle cut on the street side, and followed that up with a cut from the bottom – just like you see in the movies.  And also, by the way, just like I saw in the instruction book.  April by this time had taken a spot across the street a safe distance from danger.  She was taking pictures and talking to the neighbor who had come over to watch as well.  When the time came for the final cut to the back of the tree, I climbed on the roof.  Why?  So I could – at just the right moment – push the tree to the ground with my bare hands, of course.  And I did.  Nathan jumped back out of the way at the last possible second.  And just as I gave the final shove, our other neighbor turned the corner in her little VW.  I saw her face as she casually glanced over her shoulder to see what everyone was looking at.  Her mouth dropped open.  She shouted something I – thankfully – couldn't hear.  She swerved away to avoid being crushed under the towering tree that was headed right at her.  Actually, the tree landed in our driveway.  It wasn't really close to hitting her, but it sure must have seemed like it to her.  Nathan and I cheered and basked in our glory for awhile.  But then we had to face the daunting task of cutting the fallen tree into manageable pieces and drag them to the curb.  It was tough work, and we got pretty tired.  Nathan finally shared his take on the day's adventure.  He said, "It's for sure now.  Kel and Josh have you and Mom when y'all get all old and senile.  I've done my part."   I think Nathan felt like he had a handle on at least the first part of 2Timothy 4:7: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race.  I have kept the faith."   Father, help Nathan, and me, keep the faith while we fight our fights and run our races.  Amen.