Trees-B-Gone

  

I woke wanting nothing more than to stay in bed perhaps as much as an hour longer. However, I knew I needed to get up and moving if I wanted to stay on course for what was expected to be a busy morning. The smell of freshly brewed coffee perfumed the air. That proved to be enough motivation to push me from bed at 545am. Five minutes later I was downstairs, outside on the deck glancing skyward. Another crystal clear morning with warmer than normal temperatures, and by all accounts, a perfect day to take down trees.

Whipped out Tuesday calisthenics by 6am. I hate to admit it, but was more than glad it wasn't a push-up day. Settled in front of my PC and laptop by 610am with a hot cup of coffee. Yum! Loosely perused the headlines. Of course dominating the headlines was the government shutdown, a politically motivated move that sadly has become all too common anymore. I choose not to worry too much about it. Not sure how much, if any direct impact it has on me and my family.

Headed upstairs to wake Mindy near 620am. Of course I didn't go empty handed. I took her coffee creamed with pumpkin spice. These days. what isn't 'pumpkined' this time of year? The one thing that comes immediately to mind is my gasoline. Haven't seen that yet, but then again, I wouldn't' be shocked if somebody didn't try and capitalize on the idea. :)

Played around online a few more minutes before stepping away to meditate and stretch. Jacob would be down soon. I could hear him blow drying his hair after the world's fastest shower. Meditation went well as did stretching. My neck and shoulders have felt as good as they have in years. And my concern that Sunday's aggressive football tossing might aggravate it, so far wasn't an issue.

I was getting out of my PJs and into my running attire about the same time that Jacob was downstairs for a quick bite. I slipped into the laundry to finish my change whereas I would typically change in the kitchen. I dressed in long running pants and a thin, loose, long-sleeved wicking shirt. With a temperature near 60 degrees that was ideal. It dawned on me out the door that it was October 1st, which psychologically marks the true beginning of fall. No turning back now. By the time I completed my warm-up lap, Jacob and his bus peeps were gathered at the bus stop. Jacob shouted 'run Forest' as I galloped by.

I ran the full 4.1 miles feeling much less stress than I did on Monday when I had three big rocks to worry about. I did a good job Monday of addressing those work related concerns, then also felt much better about the SS tax issue after confirming what the real problem was and then finding the company provided documentation I needed. The only item that remained from Monday's list of stressors was the tree removal, and one way or another, that was set to be resolved later that morning. Just needed them to show up and do the work for the agreed price. I was concerned about that after reading several complaints about tree removal companies getting started then coming to the door asking for lots more money. Also read stories of them demanding upfront payment and then not doing what was initially agreed. Without a doubt, I was nervous, but also prepared to do what I could to make sure those items were completely clear before any work began. They did call the night before to confirm as requested. That was definitely a step in the right direction.

Was home from my run just ahead of 730am, so Mindy was still home. She had eggs ready and on the stove too. That's not a guarantee anymore. Mindy & Bella were both in the kitchen enjoying some fresh apple pie, the one they made from scratch the night before. Mindy had a big chunk she was taking into work to share with peeps. She wished me luck on the tree thing as I leashed up the pug and headed out on a walk. She passed Eiknarf and I on her way out of the subdivision.

Back at the house I gobbled down my eggs while Bella finished readying for school. I didn't plan to shower anytime soon. The tree guys said he'd be at the house around 9am. That was still 75 minutes away. Bella and I headed to the bus stop at 755am. It was 805am, however, before the bus actually showed up. Walked Eiknarf out front again then headed inside.

Got busy with a couple work related items but nothing to intense. I saw that I had a meeting invite for 9am, or the same time that the tree guy was expected to show. I figured I would join and then drop if and when they showed up. The next 45 minutes went pretty fast. I opted not join the 9am call. And a couple minutes later Frank, from Excellent Arborists showed up at the door along with a stream of tree removal equipment. He seemed like a nice fellow, younger than me,. I'm guessing about 40. Had a contract in his hand and quickly reviewed the work to be done and the cost. Didn't ask for a penny up front. I asked if we needed to walk and look over the trees to be taken down. After all, he wasn't the one who did the estimate. He said it wasn't necessary but I insisted. I didn't want there to be any surprises.

The diagram Landon drew for him showed two ash trees out front - the two that were also to have the stumps ground away. I pointed out that they were actually in the back, but that from a backyard perspective, they were those up front. I also showed him the one behind the shed as well as the three by the treehouse, two of which run up through the floor of the treehouse. He didn't bat an eye. Said it would be no problem. He had a crew of about 6 guys with him too. He quickly gave orders to begin in the very back, working on the tree house trees first. I let him know that I would be working inside and to let me know if they needed anything.

I headed in and back to work trying not to be a nosey Nellie. It didn't take too long before I could hear chain saws roaring. From the dining room window I could see one fellow high in the dead ash tree tops above the tree house. I watched him cut and lower several branches one at a time. My dad showed up within the first hour. By then Frank, the owner had already knocked on the door to ask how I would feel about them driving their truck back through the yard. Hell yes! He was very happy that I granted such permission. Otherwise, they would've had some heavy hauling to do using a large two-wheeled wheel barrow they had on prem. And even with their large pick-up pulled into the backyard, it was used exclusively for the large trunk pieces. They still dragged or carried the long stemmy tops all the way from the back to the front yard where they had the chipper/shredder parked.

Dad didn't stick around long, but did walk out to say hello and watch for a few minutes. I think he had a doctor's appointment to make. I noticed how healthy he looked, and probably better than he did even a decade ago. He definitely doesn't look 78. The health care system has been good to him, for sure.

The guys stayed busy out back by the tree house until about 1pm when they broke for lunch. I could see that they had food of some sort. A guy knocked on the door again around 115pm asking if I had an extension ladder they could use so that they could treat the top of stumps coming up through the treehouse to prevent/delay rot. Sure. I helped him free the aluminum ladder from the garage. I couldn't tell from the house, but it looked to me that they had all three trees around the tree house down and done by 130pm.

Around 2pm Frank came knocking again, this time asking if I would come out and look at the big tree behind the shed. Uh-oh! He shared what I already knew, which was that there was a large rotted cavity at the base, and so much so that his climber didn't feel it a safe tree to climb. Suggested the only safe way to bring it down was to drop it in the pond. Having witnessed how talented and daring his tree climber guy was in the three out back, I knew he wasn't bulls shitting. If it could be done safely, he would've done it. I thought about nixing that tree in its entirety, but as we agreed, if and when it falls, it'll fall into the pond anyway since it's already leaning strongly in that direction. I agreed to have them bring it down into the pond. He thanked me for being understanding and they quickly got to work bringing it down. I ran inside to get my Samsung Galaxy III so I could get a video of the tree coming down.

Awesome! It was fun watching such a big piece of wood fall like that. And when it hit the water it made a much louder, splashier sound than I expected. Seconds later, though, it was still and quiet again. More of the tree's main trunk submerged itself than I expected. I'll get out there in my hip waders in the coming weeks and do my best to remove any of the lateral branches that might otherwise trap debris.

The tree crew wasted little time moving on to the two ash trees in the middle of the back yard. Frank insisted those would be a piece of cake compared to the others. Eric, the climber guy shared how much fun it was to do the ones around the tree house. Said he doesn't get to e so crafty that often. They had the one on the left looking south down in less than an hour. Jacob was home from school to witness the last of it. Didn't seem too interested though. It took more time to cut the enormous stump down to a grindable size than it did to fell the tree. The trunk was a combination of three main shoots and with a diameter of about 3'. Took some doing to cut it up into bite-size pieces that they could load by hand onto their flatbed truck.

Mindy was home by 340pm then Bella a few minutes later. Without question, Mindy was more excited than either of the kids to watch. And in true Mindy fashion, she headed out to interact with the tree crew. I could tell that Eric, the climber guy, was more than happy to put on a show from high atop the last tree. Nothing short of amazing how he ties himself off from near the very top then jumps around from trunk to trunk effectively bringing down the entire tree while he remains aloft and without damaging any valuable structures or property below. Truly an art. Mindy applauded a couple of times.

We made sure the entire crew had ice water for the duration. We also decided to order them a couple pizzas from Minelli's, though we made no mention of it until they actually arrived. Eric, in particular appreciated the pizza, having skipped lunch for all the climbing ahead of him. He told Mindy he was worried about poison ivy/oak vines growing up through the trees out back by the tree house and the likelihood that he got it all over himself. Mindy fetched him our large bottle of rubbing alcohol and some paper towels so he could wash himself off. No doubt it works. Done it a few times myself. Showed my dad the trick too, and now he keeps some rubbing alcohol in his garage for the same reason.

Once the last two trees were down it was clean-up and stump removal time. Clean-up took more time than anything. Two of the six man crew did nothing but clean-up all day. They had the toughest job, dragging the large branches out front to the grinder and then raking all the smaller debris onto tarps. Frank grinded out the first stump, which marked the first time I've ever witnessed such a thing. Impressive and simple. The grinding wheel ate right through it. Soon it was little more than a pile of fine mulch. The clean-up crew had two contractor-sized leaf/lawn blowers too. Just as Frank promised, they cleaned up behind themselves and actually left the yard looking better than it did when they began.

Frank's wife stopped by around 6pm. We chatted with the two of them briefly. Frank left to go on another bid but promised to stop back before they were gone. I offered to pay him right then. Headed inside and wrote him the check. At that point all that remained was the last stump grinding and final clean-up. Keeping his word, Frank was back about 45 minutes later. By then, the rest of the crew, minus Eric, the climber guy, who had already left for home ( lives in Hocking Hills), had the last stump grinded away and were busy blowing the last of the sawdust and debris off the yard. We insisted that they take what remained of the two extra-large Minelli's pizzas. They worked their tails off to be sure. Arrived at 9am and worked until 645pm with only a 20-30 minute break.

Once they departed Mindy, Kenny and I walked out to take a closer look at the now barren backyard. I was most impressed that aside from the two piles of fine mulch where they ground away the stumps, there was little other indication that they were even there. It's sad that we had to lose the tree swing and the character that the two middle yard trees provided, but there's no looking back. It's time to look forward.

Bella was somewhat traumatized with the removal of essentially all of our backyard trees. For a time, she didn't want to look and later expressed deep sadness with their vacancy. She asked if she could keep a log in memory of. Mindy helped her pick one out. Too cute!

Mindy allowed Bella to skip gymnastics since we would be privately celebrating her birthday, having a mawmaw provided meatloaf as the center piece of her birthday meal. Mindy had Jacob and I toss it in the oven around 3pm. It was already cooked then frozen. Took far longer to heat up than Mindy ever dreamed. She ended up nuking our individual servings to get it hot. Neighborhoodie, Emma joined us for dinner. Her brother, Mason came by around 730pm advising that she needed to get home. So much for enjoying pie and gifts. Mindy gave both Mason and Emma brownies to take with them.

Soon after they departed we sang happy birthday over apple pie and then had Bella open her gifts since we wouldn't have that much time together on Wednesday, her actual birthday. We got her two Justice tops and some gummy worms. We wrapped a picture of her new TV in a Macy's jewelry box. She let out a big screech when she realized what it was. Mindy adorned the picture with a note and hugs. It should arrive by the following Monday via Amazon, but hopefully sooner.

Each of us commented more than once how strange it was to glance out back and not see our large ash trees. Makes our backyard seem more ordinary. The Reds were playing the Pirates for the NL Wildcard game beginning at 8pm, but I opted not to watch. Figured I haven't watched but maybe parts of 4 or 5 games all year. Why now? Besides, whenever I watch they seem to play poorly. Who needs that? Figured I could see the score come morning and save myself from any unnecessary stress brought on by watching the game.

Mindy and I headed to bed early, somewhere close to 930pm. I was exhausted. Good night slivery moon!