Tree removal

THE CITY CAME by this morning and removed a tree in front of our house. It was between the sidewalk and the street, so it was the city's responsibility.

This morning

Not sure how old it was, but the tree was top heavy and crowding another tree just to the east. Branches were dying on the top of the tree and they couldn't fall to the ground because it was too thick and intersecting with the other tree. We thought about just having it trimmed, but in the end removing the tree means the other tree next to it has a much better chance of surviving and doing well.

We've planted five trees in our backyard in the 10 years we've lived in Calftown. Two of the them are pear trees and there were a lot of pears this year. But strangely enough, one day the tree had tons of pears, and the very next day most of the them were gone. We assume the squirrels came by in a gang and carted them all away.

When we bought the house in 2009, there was a nasty sweet gum tree that dropped those spiky balls. We had it removed in a year and replaced by another tree. Sheryl spent the next five years picking up the spiky balls that had been ground into the soil.

It's nice and shady back there now. I sat in the backyard last night as dusk settled in and thought about how nice it is to have a shady spot to sit and contemplate life.

This Afternoon!

We know how important trees are to the environment. It's always sad when a living thing goes away, no matter how sick or healthy it is. Perhaps the city can plant another tree further west so it doesn't get in the way of any other trees.

But the front of the house looks much better and all the other trees have room to breathe, so we are happy.