Ax Men

Yesterday I went out to my brother John's house to help take down a dead tree that was leaning over an old tool shed. My brother Tom and his son John were there to help too. Actually, brothers John and Tom did most of the work and nephew John was busy alongside them. I was there to do little odd jobs and pitch in when an extra pair of hands was needed. My brothers are both stronger than I am and have somehow gained a huge body of knowledge on how to do this sort of thing. I must have been out of the room when this piece of the family gene pool was being handed out. They both also have tons of useful tools and equipment. I try to help where I can during projects like this and always end up learning a lot. Here's a photo of what the tree looked like before we started.

It's hard to tell from this picture but the tree is leaning over the red shed quite a lot. We couldn't just cut it down. We had to dismantle it piece by piece. It took a long time.

This next photo shows the work in progress. John was the only one to go up in the tree. The rest of us were busy with ropes, tools and opinions.

Little is left of the tree now but there is still a bit of work to be done. Even though it was dead it's surprising how much more open the area seems now that it's gone.

I suspect John and Tom are sore today. They earned it. I have a bit of a sunburn and what Tom calls 'air show neck' from looking up all day. It was a good way to spend a Sunday.