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Falling Branches
Feb. 1st, 2013 06:34 pmYesterday, as I was preparing to leave for work, I heard the roar of a chainsaw somewhere nearby. I glanced out the window and saw a crew of city workers, pruning branches on one of my pear trees - the one near the corner. This happens from time to time, whenever the branches grow into nuisanceful proportions. I thought nothing of it; by the time I'd gotten myself assembled and left the house, they were gone.
The 60F temperatures of Monday and Tuesday had blown away by Wednesday morning; we haven't gotten much above freezing since (and not at all in the last two days). On Tuesdays and Thursdays, my classes run late enough that the #16 bus, which passes by Shop'n'Save, has stopped running. Instead, I have to take the #19, which lets me off at Dierberg's, substantially farther away. When I got off, the temperature was in the single digits, and though I was well bundled up, I decided to take my mind off the cold by counting my paces, so as to estimate the actual length of the walk. I kept my paces as even as I could, and basically concentrated on the ground in front of me and the path before me. By the time I reached home, I was feeling the chill and focusing completely on the task. I did not even glance at the corner. (For the record, I counted 466 paces, at a little over 5' per pace: about half a mile.)
This morning, when I went to get the morning paper, I did look up. Evidently, while I was at work, the crew had returned to their pruning. They had pruned my tree all the way to the ground.... I now have only two pear trees - or one and a half, if you consider the damage the ice storm of '06 did to one of them. In place of the other - or actually a yard or so away - is a spanking new stop sign.
I bought that tree for $48, about twenty years ago. I guess I got my money's worth.
:sigh:
The 60F temperatures of Monday and Tuesday had blown away by Wednesday morning; we haven't gotten much above freezing since (and not at all in the last two days). On Tuesdays and Thursdays, my classes run late enough that the #16 bus, which passes by Shop'n'Save, has stopped running. Instead, I have to take the #19, which lets me off at Dierberg's, substantially farther away. When I got off, the temperature was in the single digits, and though I was well bundled up, I decided to take my mind off the cold by counting my paces, so as to estimate the actual length of the walk. I kept my paces as even as I could, and basically concentrated on the ground in front of me and the path before me. By the time I reached home, I was feeling the chill and focusing completely on the task. I did not even glance at the corner. (For the record, I counted 466 paces, at a little over 5' per pace: about half a mile.)
This morning, when I went to get the morning paper, I did look up. Evidently, while I was at work, the crew had returned to their pruning. They had pruned my tree all the way to the ground.... I now have only two pear trees - or one and a half, if you consider the damage the ice storm of '06 did to one of them. In place of the other - or actually a yard or so away - is a spanking new stop sign.
I bought that tree for $48, about twenty years ago. I guess I got my money's worth.
:sigh:
