DECEMBER 13, 2004 AS THE PINE TREE FALLS

Fortunately for me, a neighbor was having an oak tree cut down (it was dead and hollow). The tree service, owned by a friend of mine, was approached about taking down a pine tree extremely close to my house and storage shed that had been struck by lightning. He assessed the tree and the situation, and agreed to do it. So, about 5 hours later, when he got around to it, he had a worker lifted in a bucket truck to tie a rope around the tree where the limbs began. The other end was secured to a tow truck a safe distance away that kept a strain on the rope to encourage the tree to fall in that direction. No less than 10 minutes later, the tree thudded to the ground exactly where it was intended to fall. No damage to the nearby shed or the house. Great job. Tree is now gone, the stump was ground (I still have to dispose of that) and my dad and neighbor have some firewood. Don't know when I'll get around to removing the grindings (they are sappy, sticky and sandy). YUCK!