Trees

Okay so one week ago tomorrow I came home to an awful sight. I know that most people reading this will think I am crazy and maybe I am but I would like to think that it is more heartbroken than crazy! You see when the hurricane, yes hurricane, came through Indiana last year a limb was broken out of our huge maple tree in the front yard. Since then it has been hanging, more like dangling from the tree. So after looking at it for more than a year and keeping Titan out from under it, scared that it might decide to fall as the exact moment he walked under it. Travis decided it was time to do something about it. This scared me, you see, Travis with a chainsaw in hand means that no tree is safe! To make a very long story short we decided to have all three of our Maple tree’s trimmed professionally. This was a win-win or so I thought. My trees would be safe from Travis’s chainsaw and I could have someone trim the limbs that were hanging down to low making it hard to mow. Well was I ever wrong! A friend of Travis’s was going to do the work. He came out and looked at all three trees. I watched with Liddy out the window as Travis took him around the yard. I have to admit it “looked” like he explained what we wanted. He gave us a quote and we were good to go. Last Wednesday I pulled into the driveway and my trees looked like this…

I was/am heartbroken. I looked through all my pictures and have yet to find a picture of all three trees when they were beautiful! I am sure that the guy did a very good job of trimming our trees. He and I just have a very different definition of trimming. To say I am sick is an understatement. I don’t cry about much but I admit, I have shed a few tears over my trees. I know, I know, they are trees. My kids are safe, my husband is okay, my family and friends are healthy and happy, life is good. But, my trees are gone and I have this sick feeling in my stomach. My grandmother planted them over 40 years ago. They were beautiful. Everyone keeps telling me they will grow back, and I know that they will but they won’t be beautiful this spring, or this summer, and maybe not for many springs and summers to come. My favorite quote so far is “Maple trees grow fast, like 3 feet a year.” That’s what I was told as I was looking at the 20+ foot limb that was lying at my feet. My response, “You are NOT helping!”


One last note, before posting this I read it aloud to Travis. His response, “Why didn’t you add in the part where you were ranting and raving.” Well, I just did, and it is true, it wasn’t my finest moment!