Like a freak, I woke again at 7:30am. Even I’m amazed that my body has two naturally occurring rise times - one for workdays and another for weekends - that sit largely independent of my bedtime. The sky didn’t look too friendly. And while there was a hint of sunshine, clouds were the dominant feature. I was very sore, my shoulders ached, especially the right, and my legs felt weary. All that climbing and sawing took its toll.
Mindy and the kids were up around 8:30am. By the time I was ready to run it began to rain pretty heavily. I was disappointed fearing that it might threaten my tree cutting project. A check of the weather radar showed scattered showers, and my hope for a quick ending was validated. Minutes later the showers ended. At 9:25am I bolted out the door. It was cool enough that I wore my sleeveless running shirt for the first time in many weeks. I returned from my run right at 10am. Mindy and the kids were doing their final dress check before departing for church.
About that same time the sun broke through and dried up any remnants of rain. However, I still had the radar whirling and could see more scattered showers approaching. Further north, they were getting pounded continuously. After Mindy & the kids left, I made myself a big sandwich to satisfy my morning hunger. I was expecting dad by 1030am, just as he and I planned. He showed right on schedule. Save for finishing my sandwich, I was ready to get started.
Before getting started, I showed dad the two tree swings we had hung as well as the work at hand. We spent a good fifteen minutes strategizing about how we were going to proceed with bringing down the tree. Dad felt that we should take one of the three main branches off before bringing the entire thing down. That’s what we did.
Dad manned the saw while I worked the rope. Eventually we got the 30’ foot long & 10” diameter branch to fall right where we hoped – out away from the shed. Next, we talked about our strategy for bringing the whole thing down. Eventually we agreed on a plan. We had to remove the tip guard to allow the saw’s entire length to disappear into the tree trunk. The saw has only a 16” bar and the trunk is close to 24”. We made our hinge cuts and then I proceeded to the rope’s end to hopefully influence the direction of the fall. Meanwhile, dad delivered the fatal blow. The tree fell, but stopped short of hitting the ground. Dad had to hit it a little more with the saw. Down it came with a very impressive thud! We were rewarded with applause from Mindy and the kids who were observing our antics from the deck.
After celebrating we headed in for some KFC that Mindy brought home after church. After dad enjoyed some food he gathered his gear and headed for home. I spent the next several hours chopping up the tree into burnable logs. I got a significant workout cutting up the wood and hauling it to dad’s backyard. I stopped only for dinner around 5pm (pork chops and au gratin potatoes) but was right back at it after. It took until dark to clear the yard of all the debris. I was completely exhausted by 9pm. I even worked through several bursts of heavy rain. I was determined to bring the project to closure. Around 9:15pm I grabbed a much desired shower and a cold beer afterwards.
I sat on the sofa enjoying my beers and the Sunday Night football game along with two bags of microwave popcorn. Mindy rubbed my aching shoulders. We headed to bed around 10pm. We got to witness Troy Smith in his NFL coming out party. He played well.
Mindy and the kids were up around 8:30am. By the time I was ready to run it began to rain pretty heavily. I was disappointed fearing that it might threaten my tree cutting project. A check of the weather radar showed scattered showers, and my hope for a quick ending was validated. Minutes later the showers ended. At 9:25am I bolted out the door. It was cool enough that I wore my sleeveless running shirt for the first time in many weeks. I returned from my run right at 10am. Mindy and the kids were doing their final dress check before departing for church.
About that same time the sun broke through and dried up any remnants of rain. However, I still had the radar whirling and could see more scattered showers approaching. Further north, they were getting pounded continuously. After Mindy & the kids left, I made myself a big sandwich to satisfy my morning hunger. I was expecting dad by 1030am, just as he and I planned. He showed right on schedule. Save for finishing my sandwich, I was ready to get started.
Before getting started, I showed dad the two tree swings we had hung as well as the work at hand. We spent a good fifteen minutes strategizing about how we were going to proceed with bringing down the tree. Dad felt that we should take one of the three main branches off before bringing the entire thing down. That’s what we did.
Dad manned the saw while I worked the rope. Eventually we got the 30’ foot long & 10” diameter branch to fall right where we hoped – out away from the shed. Next, we talked about our strategy for bringing the whole thing down. Eventually we agreed on a plan. We had to remove the tip guard to allow the saw’s entire length to disappear into the tree trunk. The saw has only a 16” bar and the trunk is close to 24”. We made our hinge cuts and then I proceeded to the rope’s end to hopefully influence the direction of the fall. Meanwhile, dad delivered the fatal blow. The tree fell, but stopped short of hitting the ground. Dad had to hit it a little more with the saw. Down it came with a very impressive thud! We were rewarded with applause from Mindy and the kids who were observing our antics from the deck.
After celebrating we headed in for some KFC that Mindy brought home after church. After dad enjoyed some food he gathered his gear and headed for home. I spent the next several hours chopping up the tree into burnable logs. I got a significant workout cutting up the wood and hauling it to dad’s backyard. I stopped only for dinner around 5pm (pork chops and au gratin potatoes) but was right back at it after. It took until dark to clear the yard of all the debris. I was completely exhausted by 9pm. I even worked through several bursts of heavy rain. I was determined to bring the project to closure. Around 9:15pm I grabbed a much desired shower and a cold beer afterwards.
I sat on the sofa enjoying my beers and the Sunday Night football game along with two bags of microwave popcorn. Mindy rubbed my aching shoulders. We headed to bed around 10pm. We got to witness Troy Smith in his NFL coming out party. He played well.
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