I’ve waited since October to take down the huge tree that stood on an angle and hung, menacingly, over my neighbor’s yard and house. He hates it, in a Spanish tirade I can’t really understand but doesn’t seem to require actual translation due to his red face, angry tone and the chain saw he is often wielding at its base.
He has, in the six years I have lived here, taken that chain saw to the base of the Elm tree a few times. Mostly, I would just snap a picture to make sure I had some sort of documentation of his completely maniacal stupidity — who cuts down from the base a tree that stands bigger than a whole house? But last October, when I officially teamed up with a group of people to share my back 40 feet in an intensive food-producing garden project, I knew the tree was going to have to come down to make way for sun.
Making the neighbor happy was just a side dish. Good, a nice complement to the main course, but not essential.
Back then, we also took down my back deck. That area is being replaced by some stairs and a dog run. Unfortunately, that project yet to be completed and likely won’t be for some time. The tree alone was $1300 to take down, the stairs and run will likely cost me about three grand more. It is for another day.
Today, yard clean up and staking out beds. There are a lot of seedlings we planted a few weeks back that are ready to go in the ground, and more seeds to direct sew. Food, soon, to eat.
