Signs

Let me first start by saying that everything turned out alright in the end. 

Saturday was a beautiful autumn day.  The sun was out.  It was warm, but not hot.  The sky was so blue. 

(The sky looks so big in this photo and the house very small.)

 

The day started out well.  Breakfast, cleaning up the yard, laundry.  The typical Saturday morning stuffs. Chain Saw Johnny was coming over after his morning work.  He and Walt Kowalski were going to attack another tree on the front hill.  They had a plan.  Walt Kowalski has been thinking about this for several weeks now.  After last Saturday's washout, we were pleased to be back outside.

 

Walt Kowalski and Chain Saw Johnny set the ladder up in the tree to tie off the guide rope.  The tree was covered in ivy and Virginia Creeper that was blooming and covered with bees.  Walt Kowalski headed up in the tree with the bug spray.  After spraying the bees, he tried to get the cap back on the bottle without dropping it and accidentally sprayed himself in the face with the bug spray. 

 

This was the first sign the day was not going to go well.  Hindsight, of course.

 

They got the rope tied off, the Come-Along attached, and Walt Kowalski started to tighten the rope, pulling the tree straight and towards the landing zone. 

 

Then the rope broke.  Another bad sign.

We think there was a small pull knot that came loose and the rope rubbed against itself, created weak spot, and broke.  No worries, we have a backup rope.

 

Re-tie and pull again. The tree was straight and pulling towards the landing zone.

 

Tree before tightening                                                                                 Tree after tightening

 

 

Tighten, tighten, tighten.  Saw, saw, saw, saw. 

 

It slowly started to lean.  It slowly started to fall. 

It slowly started to twist in the wrong direction.

Crap.  Crap. Crap. Crap.

 

 

It twisted and feel right onto our backup plan of a pine tree.  Slight sigh of relief.  Sort of. 

Walt Kowalski specifically did not cut down the small pine tree at the end of the driveway for this exact reason.  If a tree didn't fall properly, the little pine might help stop the falling tree before it crashed through the electric wires. 

It did.  Between the guide rope that was still holding the tree and the little pine tree, the big tree didn't crash into the wires.  Good sign!

But we still had the bigger problem that the upper branches of the big tree were very close to and tangled in the wires.  The telephone, cable, and electric wires.  The 50,000 volt electric wire.  The electric wire that is now sparking.  The electric wire that is now smoking.  Bad sign. Bad sign.

Crap. Crap. Crap.



Walt Kowalski yelled up from the bottom of the driveway 'CALL WEST PENN POWER!'  Then he said 'Wait, I have the telephone number right here.' 

 

What?  You just happened to have the emergency telephone number for West Penn Power in your pocket?  No, as it turned out, the mail lady just delivered the mail and in the mail was the electric bill.  Good sign.

 

I called West Penn.  They took my emergency call and said they would have someone out before 4:30pm.  It was only 1:30pm.  That's a lot of time. That's a lot of strain on a rope and on a pine tree.  Bad sign.

 

Walt Kowalski said 'You're going to have to call 911.  At least they will be here if the rope breaks before the power company gets here.  Maybe they can convey the urgency to the power company.'

 

 

 

 

I had to chuckle when I heard the fire whistles.  After hearing them everyday for my entire life, I knew exactly who they were for this time. It didn't make me feel any better for having to call them.  

 

The fire department was there within 10 minutes.  The power company was there within the hour. 

 

It wasn't that long of a wait when I look back and think about it.  We've all waited longer for a car inspection or a table at a restaurant.  But with the threat of impending doom dangling from a rope, it seemed like a much longer wait time. 

 

West Penn came to inspect and returned with their bucket truck.

 

First item of business, cut the power. 

Second item of business, cut the branches.

 

They were very nice about the entire situation.

 

Here is the photo before he cut the branches out of the wires:

 
And here is the after photo after he cut the branches out of the wires:

(I know it's hard to see.  Everything is green.)

 

He even topped another tree next to our stuck tree.  Thank you. 

 

Once we were able to breathe again, and power was restored, we were able to inspect the tree where it was originally cut.

 

It was big, top heavy, and rotted on the inside tree.  Things we were not able to predict.   

 

The power company and local fire department were very nice.  Thank you. Services we are glad we have but hope we never need.  Ever again.

 

Chain Saw Johnny and Walt Kowalski were not disheartened.  They rallied, put their gear back on, and formulated a plan of attack to take down the rest of the tree.  The mayor even came over to help.

 

The other, smaller tree the power company topped was also in this vicinity.  It would be easier to get the first big tree out of the little pine if the smaller tree was removed first and out of the way.   

Knowing how the day was going...take a guess where the second tree fell.

 

 

No, it didn't fall into the wires. Thank goodness.  Instead, it got stuck right next to the first tree, in the small pine tree. 

 

Really?!? Are there magnets in this tree? Tree magnets. 

 

At this point all we could do was laugh.  It was funny. 

 

With a rope and a little pulling the small tree fell to the ground easily.

More ropes. More pulling and pulling and pulling. 

 

The big tree finally fell.  All four of us gave a big cheer and a huge sigh of relief.  Beers all around to celebrate.  All in all the day turned out well, it could have been a LOT worse in so many ways.  We adjourned to the camp fire to drink our celebratory beers and to plan renting a lift for the last few trees.