Day 124: May 15, 2009

Yard work has been haunting me. Since we took up running 2 summers ago, our yard has paid a heavy price. Yesterday I was pounding in fertilizer stakes around various tress and bushes in our yard. When I came to the side of our house we rarely go I saw that our oak tree is actually flourishing (unlike our other oak which is still the exact same size as when we planted it 7 years ago). Then I saw that this ugly cottonless cottonwood tree (which we planted only because we desperately needed shade on our patio) was hogging the sun so that our beautiful oak was only growing branches on one side. I quickly solved the problem.

When I'd used the clippers as much as I could, I then found a handsaw. It wasn't until I'd sawed halfway through a large branch that I realized I was standing on a stepstool right below the heavy branch. Suddenly everything that I'd ever heard, read or watched on a tv show came flying through my mind. I re-directed the angle at which I was sawing in hopes the branch would fall a slightly different direction. But it was probably the quick silent prayer that actually made the branch fall just to the side of my shoulder. Last night when I re-told Trevor the story he was not very pleased with my risky my life for a silly old branch.

By the way the branch is still partway attached to the tree, hence the reason I was able to take this shot this morning.