A Morning With Classic MAZ

6:45a.m.
my phone rings...it is a "not-so-neighborly" neighbor...
"I was walking in front of your house this morning and a limb fell right in front of me and my friend. It could have killed us.

probably scared her...doubt it would have killed her...

"I am the president of the neighborhood association and I am all about code. I am going to have to call code on you if you don't do something about your tree. It is dead. You need to cut it down. You need to do something about the limbs....." 

She goes on and on. She won't let me talk. She won't listen to me. Somewhere in her rant, she mentions that there is a limb hanging in the street that might be dangerous to the traffic........that is all I care about.

see the tiny black line to the right of the white orb? that is the limb hanging in the traffic....

Yes, it needs to be taken care of. We take care of all the limbs on this oak tree!  It does have some dead limbs. Semi trucks (on the way to Target) knock down and damage limbs, storms damage limbs, etc. We are constantly taking care of the limbs.

I was trying to tell her that we take care of our "stuff" AND that good "presidents" listen to the people...but she wouldn't shut up...so I hung up on her...

I headed outside to take care of the limb....there was no way I could reach it...I called my dad.

He showed up with his truck, a ladder, rope and hand saw......

Why can't I be like normal people and afford to hire someone to cut this and LOOK normal to Memphis......oh well, no use cryin......

I get my mom to take pictures for my blog!!

Ok readers, be prepared....when I look at me in these pics...that song "don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me" runs through my head....and I have an oversized shirt on!

Keep in mind...I live on a busy street! We are in the middle of the street! Once we get the offensive branch cut, my dad uses a rope to pull on the larger branch to cut more away so the trucks don't KEEP hitting the end of that same branch....

A nice man stops in his truck to tell us that this could possibly be dangerous and we should not do it this way. REALLY??? If we could do it any other way.....don't you think we would???? Do you think if we had a LARGE ladder or TREE CUTTING TOOLS that we would be in the back of a truck ON a ladder for everyone in Memphis to drive by and SEE??? 

Five seconds after the man pulled away we heard cracking....cracking...cracking...it wouldn't stop. 

I, being the concerned daughter, jumped away from my father and left him as....

The limb broke away from the tree and fell on my dad, the ladder, and his truck....I almost made it out of the back of the truck.. but I decided to do the splits on the tailgate...MOST UNCOMFORTABLE!

So, still only having hand saws and lopper, clipper thingys...we began cutting away the limb, little at a time....

Then dragging it out of the street......I made my dad leave because this week marks the two year anniversary of him surviving the "widow maker" heart attack....It was so HOT and HUMID...I wasn't about to let him help saw the big thick limb!! If he had a heart attack in my yard, I wouldn't have the strength to roll him to the sidewalk with all the branches!!

Jack and I took turns sawing and we had one cut left....we were dying....he found the ax...and gave it a try...I got the camera in case of human limb removal......

Several things I learned...

1. I can't use a saw. I don't know if it is lack of strength, ability...or I am an idiot...

2. I needed a chainsaw but would have been too scared to use it!!

3. I told my next door neighbor about the "president's" phone call and he is furious...I have something she doesn't...I have crazy neighbors on my side! I have my own association and it is stronger than hers! 

4. If a mosquito and an ant are biting you, don't swat at it with the saw...

My morning ended at 12:30pm