I Cannot Tell a Lie

Well, it was a cedar tree, not a cherry tree. And technically I didn’t chop it down, I paid other people to do so. But other than that, George Washington and I are together on this one.

I’ve tried multiple times to get a picture that shows exactly how big this tree is, but it never seems to work. Then, this morning, on day two of the tree chopping extravaganza, I took this:


All I needed before was for someone to climb up in the tree and provide a proper scale (after first chopping off all of the branches that would get in the way of being able to see said person).

After the branches were removed and lowered down, there was just the trunk spiking up into the air. Since there wasn't any way to lower things easily, the removal method was to cut off six foot sections at a time and let them fall. As the tree guy warned me, you could really feel it when one of those fell. At one point a bunch of my neighbors were outside and started applauding when a particularly big section hit the ground. (The tree guy also warned, before they started, that he "couldn't promise there won't be holes in the lawn when we're done.") Since the trunk was about ten feet from the house, the sections were falling right in front of the window. I finally decided that I would feel stupid if I were killed by a falling tree trunk and moved away from the window.


This is what the front lawn looks like tonight.


It makes my house look sort of like a monopoly hotel.

Anyhow, the tree is down, the house is still standing, and I need to go cross the Delaware or something.