softwood
split at the base. it didn’t look deep, but a fella from the tree service said it couldn’t be fixed.
a tree is being removed from our yard today – like right now. there’s a crane outside the window, and a wood chipper in the driveway. men in orange tops and vests are carrying bags of gear, chainsaws, gas cans and gesturing skyward… it’s impossible to ignore.
rainstorms have been blowing through this past week. the first came last Friday during a virtual happy hour with friends. first came rain, then the wind whipped up and i heard a loud *POP*. sounded close, but there weren’t any obvious signs when i peeked outside. the next morning i saw the damage: one of the three trees directly outside our place had a long split shooting up from the base of the trunk.
“sh-t…”
utility lines criss-cross the neighborhood with trees interlaced among them to varying degrees. we worried the crack could put the lines, and our neighbors’ homes, in jeopardy should it cause the tree to fall over. we worried about our house too. well, not our house – the house we live in. it’s someone else’s house and, technically, someone else’s tree. Sam got in touch with the property manager who got in touch with the owner who got in touch with a tree service… i had hoped there would be an intervening solution between disaster and removal, but that didn’t turn out to be the case. and now it’s being removed.
the tree was supposed to come down yesterday morning, but it rained again and had to be postponed, providing an opportunity to observe the daily routine one more time. it was a handsome tree – a Monterey cypress i think. host to a squirrel family and numerous birds that i’ve observed closely over the last year. today, nearly a year to the day since we started our stay-at-home order, things are changing again – uncanny timing. seems it’s because of the time spent closely observing and interacting with our home over the last year that i was even able to notice the split. damned if you do…
this makes me sad. really f--king sad…
the crane hook made frequent appearances as it lowered and lifted from view, usually with huge sections of tree attached…
what remains: soft heartwood stump.
i was taking photos this morning when the tree crew drove up. i introduced myself and met Roberto, Julio, and “the new guy”. several more crew members and a crane operator arrived shortly after, but i’d already gone inside to hunker down with my feelings. from my east facing window i could see Julio, the climber, gearing up. he pull-started his chainsaw and clipped it to a carabiner on his harness before being hoisted into the canopy – the chainsaw and extra lengths of rope dangling from his waist like a charm bracelet. over the next couple hours branches, needles, and cones fell to the ground; and whole sections of tree were lowered to awaiting hands and the chipper’s maw.
Roberto let me know when they were wrapping up and described what had been done – dead branches were trimmed and a tree closer to the front of the house was cleaned up too. he showed me the state of the remaining stump and it was clear that the crack indicated a larger problem. the wood at the center was soft – so soft i could pull pieces up with little effort. the tree wasn’t well, and removing it was in the best interest of what had been developed around it; but i’m still sad to see it go.
i hope the squirrels find a new tree to nest in and the birds come back. i hope the remaining trees – what’s left standing of them – are healthy and don’t need to come down anytime soon. *knock on wood* (too soon?)
i could read into this and telegraph out some metaphorical meaning, but i just want to be sad right now.
