Friday was quite the sad day in our house. The 70 year old ash tree in our front yard was removed. For several years, I had been paying to treat it to prevent the Emerald Ash Borer. The past couple of years the tree’s foliage was noticeably less and less. The recent windy nights led to several large branches falling. I decided it was time to take the tree down. Norma and Alias loved sitting on my bed upstairs and looking out the skylight to the top of the tree where there usually were a bunch of birds. They also liked looking out the living room’s picture window where they watched squirrels race up and down the tree’s trunk. The noise from the removal scared Alias as he hid under the bed most of the day. Norma diligently watched the man at the top of the tree. Bigger than a bird, this was new for her. Life lost just a little bit of excitement in their daily lives.
I was caught off guard at how emotional losing the tree was. Because the tree was within 20 feet of my house, with every storm that blew by over the years, there was the added anxiety of worrying the tree would topple onto my house, or worse onto my neighbor’s house. Still, watching the crew dismember the tree, branch by branch, pieces of the thick trunk sawed into manageable chunks, it wasn’t lost on me that this was still a living being that had been around for a long time, with a lot of history.
I didn’t have the crew grind the stump away, temporarily saving a little money and afterward I’m glad I didn’t have them do that. Because there’s a nice reminder left behind of my once mighty ash tree.
“Now I’m out in the backyard leaning on a tree/And I have no way of knowing
Can’t lean too hard that’s my philosophy/Man that tree is growing
Maybe I’ll never grow up to be straight and tall/But you can lean on me, baby, I won’t fall
Maybe in the deal I can learn to bend/Learn to listen like that tree, baby like a good friend”
-John Hiatt ‘Stolen Moments’
5 comments:
Mum agrees that it is sad to take down a tree, but sometimes it's necessary.
Too bad the cats will no longer be able to see critters running up and down like before.
Maybe there will be other things to capture their interest.
Purrs, Julie
I totally get it; I've got a "4th" generation willow in my back
yard and it look's a sad sight. A "start" of it has moved with me
four times over the years and if I have to renew it where it stands
~~~~ not sure it will make it.. Use the stump; if it's wide enough
to hold a flower pot or planter :) ♥
We had to take down a big ash tree several years ago - it had been fine three years before - the same tree guys checked it then, but the ash borer did it in. We kept the base too - and put a sun dial on it. Hope your crew gets used to the new view.
It’s sad when you lose a tree like that. At our old house, we had to have 6 ash trees removed. It was a sad day…but we did plant a couple of new trees which helped.
That is sad about your tree. My human lost one early on a few years after she came to live here. She wasn't as sentimental about it since she hadn't been here that long, but it was her favorite backyard tree.
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