Felling Trees

 In the city, you have to get a permit to cut down any large tree, and you have to have an arborist certify that the tree needs to go. Here in Warwick, it seems anyone can take out a tree whenever they want to for any reason. Our neighbour has taken out two large trees, a maple that was probably over 75 years old, and a giant pine that was blocking light from their house. The noise that the trees made falling was quite exciting and shook the earth (and the church). But luckily the feller was experienced and good at his job, and the trunk of the maple fell neatly about eight feet from the church. It had been responsible for a great deal of the leaves on our roof and in our eavestroughs, so in that sense I'm not sorry to see it go, but it is still a bit sad to see such a mighty trunk getting cut up and hauled away.

The pine took longer to haul out, great piles of boughs piled on trailers. One bough remained sort of propped up against the stump, and my neighbour has decorated it elaborately with Christmas ornaments, like Charlie Brown's tree. Rather fun!

Other neighbours have also taken out trees recently. Some look like they may have fallen in a storm, but others were moved to make room for a back porch, etc. It seems the practice here is to haul yard waste such as pine tree branches up the old village road and dump it on the side of a farmer's field. When a sufficient pile has accumulated, someone sets fire to it, and it burns for days. The smoke drifts over the village like fog and you can smell it from far away. It smells like Christmas burning.

Our yard has nine trees in it -- one large maple that belongs to the township, and eight tall cedars growing around the edge of the side yard. They look a bit scabby, and I'm hoping they don't need to come out, because the propane tank is planted firmly in front of them.