Oak, kay?

The massive oak hit the driveway with a thud, sending up a cloud of dust and debris that coated the resident woodsman's fuzzy arms until he looked like a sawdust-encrusted beast. He is a beast with the chainsaw, cutting a huge wedge out of the oak tree's trunk before making the fatal cut to send it sprawling. 

The last time we needed to remove a tree that big, it was surrounded by power lines and so we relied on professionals, who charged thousands of dollars but left us with wood to heat our house all winter. This time the tree was far from power lines but fairly close to the edge of the garage, so my husband rigged up ropes and chains to the tractor to pull the tree in a safe direction, straight across the driveway. Then he went to work with the chainsaw to cut away bits and branches until only the thickest part of the tree was blocking the drive.

And that's when the chainsaw stopped working.

So the tree will continue to block our driveway until the chainsaw gets fixed. We can get around it by driving down into the lower meadow, as long as the weather stays dry so the meadow doesn't get mushy. But anyone coming up from the road won't be able to see the tree until they're right on top of it, and then there's nothing to be done but back up down the hill and venture through the meadow, if they dare.

Ah, the joys of country life. Always another adventure.

 

Coming down near the garage--but not on it.

Still standing tall