a tree for all seasons...

you said it, bub. like you have no idea how many seasons we have celebrated with this ONE blasted tree that has blessed our house. it has been so fantastic to be the recipient of the love it has bestowed upon us over the years. if you’re starting to catch a hint of sarcasm, then you don’t need too much of a legend to sort through this mess o’ map i’m about to lay down. 

most people, or we (hubs & i), want to be the nice guy. why not be the nice guy? the good neighbor? for instance, we had an obvious dead pine in the backyard. every time someone sneezed, i swear it swayed! plus, it was headed for our neighbor's house...where the little boy's bedroom was. it had to come down. so we called this guy & he came over with a chainsaw in one hand & a beer in the other. holy cow, to see him climb up & cut it down was like watching a train wreck; nerve wracking. i even did one of those catholic air cross thingys...yea, totally not even catholic, it just felt right. he knew what he was doing though, didn't take a super long time,  & "here's a check for you, buddy"...done! that's what people do. 

fortunately, for the other end, we’ve been able to uphold this exterior as the neighborly kind, as whenever a tree falls…we do hear a sound; from the mighty oak & from the check book…cha-ching! it’s ridiculous how good we are…i say we, but mean he. the hubs, he’s amazing awesome! it’s so irritating to have a limb or whatever crash onto 1) a bedroom bathroom and send an heirloom picture frame & 2 bottles over 100 years old flying into the shower tile 2) an ac unit (which are quite expensive to replace…fyi) 3) your toddler’s bedroom ceiling (gasp!) or 4) eventually have half a freaking tree (scarily) hole up the damn roof! oh, & we got a new roof. tired of patching holes & crying in silence over destroyed things that could not be replaced…we got a new roof! i believe it cost US though because well, be it a neighbor’s tree or someone in sacramento…it was not dead, people, duh. wait…what?!

even an “act of God,” does not mean that a tree which destroys your house & personal timeline, in general, (& not on your property) will be covered by said tree “owner.” if the tree isn’t declared dead, guess who is stuck with the hassle? ME!

so, we recently had a crazy thunderstorm with winds that were so loud & strong it scared monkey. (okay...me too, but i couldn't show it.) then the inevitable happened…yep, tree. same tree. the rest of same tree. BOOM! (my child was glued to me for hours after until he finally fell asleep.) on top of the eave of 6 month old roof & across the front yard ending at the driveway & scratching/minorly denting the truck (sigh) lay the tree. the hubs swears he must’ve been a lumberjack in a previous life, resulting in the hatred from this tree. maybe God hates us…or, as a witty friend suggested, HE just didn’t care for the landscaping in the front yard!

ugh, i was heartbroken…defeated. what will the insurance say this time? would we pay, again? would they freaking drop us all together. seriously not what we wanted to deal with, but we were safe & that was all that mattered.

after about a week of waiting…waiting…& yes, more waiting, we finally heard those magical words…”that tree is dead.” thank you, thank you, thank you! we already knew this, but it didn’t matter until an arborist said it & an insurance adjuster said it. (we aren’t PROfessionals…what do we know?! we just have to live with it.)

the first several days were quite draining & depressing to venture outside to stumble upon such a mess. after snapping every inch with the camera, clean-up had to commence. luckily, a gentlemen stopped by the house & inquired about the wood. supposedly, it’s good stuff, & it was going away to somewhere...any where as far as we were concerned. a couple days later he was back with his chainsaw & loaded up his truck. he’s coming back for the rest this week! (it’s a whole lot of tree, ya’ll) now, because of hubs & kind stranger, over half the front yard is clear & loverly again. *a trip to the nursery is needed by moi to add some color back.

oh, & for future anxiety…tree no more, well, it has a brother joined at the roots. isn’t that exciting? i’m sure those carpenter ants & termites who hollowed out the first tree have found a very nice home in this one. & this particular tree will surely split our house right down the middle. keep your fingers crossed that upon recommendation, it will be taken down…like, soon! we have led by example long enough. time for some one else to be the “nice guy!”