What in the World?

Picture this. Last Thursday, the 12th day of August, I was standing at the kitchen sink, minding my own business, oblivious to the mayhem around me. I was blissfully ignorant to the carnage that was my backyard. Then, I saw it.Go ahead and look closer, but your eyes are not deceiving you.That is my tree, well half of my tree. Yes, my tree decided to rest upon the neighbor's roof.

When did this happen? Well, Nick watered the plants Wednesday evening, and the tree was where it should be. Sometime between then and around 4:00 on Thursday, my tree broke.

Now you may assume that there was some kind of hurricane or at least a serious wind to cause that damage. But there wasn't. In fact, it was the blistering heat and lack of breeze that kept Ben and me inside all day, which is why the tree went unnoticed for potentially up to 24 hours.

After much deliberation, we decided to hire a tree-guy to come chop it down. It was very hard for Nick not to do it. I mean, he is the son of a logger. It's blasphemy paying someone to cut down a tree for you. That would be like me, the daughter of a farmer, paying someone to grow food for me. Oh wait. Anyways, we figured out all the costs of doing it ourselves, and decided it would be cheaper to hire it done.

Here are the guys in action. The one in the tree had a big belt that he used to strap himself on to the tree. He was like a monkey, swinging around chopping off branches. One minute he was on the ground; the next he was standing on the neighbor's roof.

My boys were mesmerized.

Let me tell you, they were efficient. The two guys pulled up with their wood chipper at 8:00, and were gone by 9:00. When they left, it was like it never happened. The only proof was the pile of firewood they left, and the bloodied stump in the ground. Oh, and the pictures I took.

So, in review.

Before:

After:

Farewell, my dear old tree. I will remember your shady branches very fondly next summer when we burn you in our campfire.