July 23rd was a sad day at The Cleft. If you've seen pictures or been to our house, then you know we had a beautiful oak right in our front yard. We positioned our house where it is because of that big old tree. It was complete with a tire swing and everything ... well, we started seeing signs, even before we moved in, that the tree just wasn't making it. We did all we could to protect it during the building process. Orange fencing was put around it at about a 10 foot perimeter. Bowdie spent lots of time pumping water from various sources to give it some liquid. We told all the utilities companies NOT to dig under it, but to bore under the driveway and run their stuff on the other side (unfortunately AT&T chose not to listen ... we lost a big root to them). Anyway, last fall we had a tree doctor come out and give us a diagnosis. It wasn't good, but there were things we could try, so we did. I never knew a tree could be so expensive! Anyway, this spring we had just 1 or 2 limbs with green leaves and we knew the inevitable had happened. So Bowdie called and set up for the tree to be cut down. It was a heartbreaking day ... we loved that old thing. But I must admit, it was pretty cool to see the methodical way they took it down. The older lady that lives right beside the entrance to our neighborhood, Mrs. Maggie, and her son, Ricky, had many fond memories of that tree. It seems that Ricky's grandparents used to live in the old farmhouse that was on our lot before we built. He said he could remember Sunday afternoons of watermelon and homemade ice cream under that tree. If only the thing could talk ... what it would say! The guy that did all the cutting told me he thought it was 150+ years old ... he called it a 'civil war' tree. WOW! A little piece of history in our very own yard ... just another reason we love where we live!
our big friend, the morning of the cutting ...
the first cut ... I was actually in tears ...
the boys enjoyed watching ...
first limb down ...
I was amazed at how high the guy went ... I told him he must be an adrenaline junkie ...
do you SEE how far he's leaning out of the bucket with his chainsaw? he did this alot!
they used a rope to lower the heavy limbs so they wouldn't damage the driveway or the grass ...
nearly all the top's out ...
just the main trunk left ...
piece by piece ...
down to one HUGE stump ... you can see how the core is rotten ... so the house building didn't kill it ... we just may have helped it along a little ... made me feel better ...
wow ... one big piece of wood ...
one positive ... we do have a lot of great wood for the winter ... anyone want to help Bowdie split it??!!
the new view of our house from the front of the neighborhood ... we'll be planting 1 or more trees in the fall ... on to new beginnings!
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