Tree Slayer

Yesterday I spent an hour with a bucket truck and a chain saw, trimming trees around my barn. I was slow-moving since I have such a love for trees. I felt awful trimming any branch, let alone bigger limbs. They were raking against the roof, in the line of power lines (newly installed now) and otherwise looming over things, promising to crush my out building with the first heavy snow...

...still, I cut a limb as thick as my thigh, from a wild hedge tree that had grown up between the buildings, wrapped itself around one, virtually. It has hugged that shed for what must be fifty years now, and in 50 seconds, I severed it, forever. The limb was graceful, a living work of art--the hacked limb is an ugly, mechanically gnawed stub.

I have continued my evil ways in the garden. I'm working on a Giant Pumpkin (see other entries) and one rule of thumb is to remove all but one potential giant per vine. Ultimately one is to remove all competing vines, leaving one feeder for the one giant pumpkin. Well, since I was already guilty, I went at my pumpkins, too.

I guess, if there were a greener side to this, I am going to attempt to salvage the suckers and small branches for a green wood weaving project (my boys' fort is made of woven branches). And, the pumpkin should be a whopper. One of the discards was five pounds itself!