Timber!

A VERY large (and once beautiful) elm tree in our yard died, sadly. Recently, a large part of a limb blew off in a wind storm, and it has been making us more and more nervous that the dead tree could fall on our house if we had a lot of wind. However, it made me even MORE nervous to think about cutting it down. Look how big it is and how close to the house.

,Many of the men around here have discussed the best way to fell this thing. Everyone had an opinion about which way to fell it, and there were even a few who were in favor involving ropes and trucks. You may remember my blog post from September when our friend, Greg, climbed it and cut off a large branch. Some said fell it to the west, but Tony felt sure he could safely land it to the south. Why not get a tree service to take it down, you ask? Well, around here "real men" take down their own trees. LOL But I got really nervous when Tony told me a few months ago that he was going to do it by himself. He didn't want other people standing around and wanting to do it different ways due to safety concerns. Which is a good point, but what about HIS safety?

So, yesterday was the big day. Little or no wind, no cars parked at the nearby church or kids running around outside, and the chain saw was all gassed up and ready to go. At Tony's request, I actually got the kids out of the house and they all (including my granddaughter) sat in my van at the end of the driveway -- just in case. They thought it was a big adventure. I also had my phone in my pocket just in case I had to call an ambulance.

So, Tony cut out a notch on the south side of the tree. That took a few cuts since this thing is big. Then he went around to the north side and started the cut that would fell it, all the while waiting to hear the tell-tale cracking sound so he could do what all good fallers do -- run away! Do you see him anywhere in this picture?

At about this point in time, Uncle John pulled in the driveway. He knew Tony was cutting the tree down and planned to help him cut it up once it was on the ground. We all watched excitedly as the tree started to fall -- EXACTLY where Tony wanted it to go. Unfortunately, the notch was just a tiny bit too shallow, so it got stuck.

Not for long though. Tony safely felled the tree without incident, the girls hopped out of the van, and we all cheered.

I have to tell you, I said a prayer when he started cutting and my heart was pounding. I was very nervous -- more about his getting hurt than the tree falling on the house --- but Tony did a great job and brought that big tree down without incident. But, don't try this at home kids! Tony is actually an experienced tree-cutter and really did know what he was doing.