Woodman (don't) Spare That Tree!

My view from the deck yesterday. I've only been glaring at that leggy pine hogging visual space for the past six months.

As B. and I sat sipping a cool drink as evening fell, I commented one more time how much I was looking forward to that tree being GONE.

No time like the present right?

The scent of pine sap mingled with the scent of fresh rushing melted snow water...

...and fragrant blossoms in the humid air.

He is cutting the tree up high because he wants to have the stump tall enough for hammock post usage.

The bow saw was up to the task; B. had talked to our neighbor about borrowing a chain saw, but somehow it just seemed more rugged to do it with manly muscle power.

Which isn't to say it wasn't hard work: that tree was full of sap that stuck hard to the saw blade with each stroke. At one point he switched to a small ax, and "beat the heck" out of the tree!

The mighty woodman had felled the tree!

I did catch the fall on video; for some reason I can't get Picasa to upload the new HD format though. Otherwise, I'd let you see the big "TIMBER!" moment.

"I can not tell a lie...I did it with my little hatchet..."

The hand ax belonged to Bernie's grandfather.

Grandpa's initials are on the leather ax sheath.

Notice the sheath has slashes that would allow the ax to be carried on a belt if desired.

Pretty handy, huh?

Before

After.

As we retired back to the deck the air thickened and a few raindrops fell. With the tree gone, we could clearly see a rainbow against the mountainside. God's note of approval?

(I think that would be going a bit too far...but fun to suggest to each other anyway.)

By the by...here's the robin's nest with one of the babies.

No wonder the poor robins have been gathering worms frantically the last few days.

Those babies are almost as big as their parents!

Also: Thursday evening there was no water running at the end of our property. Bernie went to lock the doors at bedtime and came to tell me that the snow melt was starting. It had been a day that flirted with the 80 degree mark; and our neighbor had mentioned that the water always began to run the first week in June.

Boy was he ever right!

The rushing water is so loud we keep thinking someone has left the bath tub water running or something. We find the sound actually unsettling and a bit disruptive.

Eventually we will get used to the sound...but by then the seasonal runoff will come to an end.

Meanwhile it is great to be able to just chuck weeds and small clippings over the fence and have it be rushed away by the water.