I always wanted to be…a lumberjack!

My worries the other night about Ken cutting off his leg with the chainsaw or the tree falling and bashing my brains in were all for naught!

The power company was right on time, and came out to where Ken was with the ladder to assess the situation. When the company told me on the phone that they would "drop the line," I thought it just meant that they'd cut power. No, they actually disconnect the line and lay it down on the ground while the tree cutting takes place. However, this is up to the discretion of the crew, and they said it would be easier for them to take care of the trimming, rather than drop the line, go do something else, then come back to reconnect. How cool of them, and what a couple of nice guys! (I'm sure it didn't hurt that Ken works for the same company, and they were able to talk a little business and mutual acquaintances...but they really seemed to be just nice guys, willing to help out and take care of it.) They got their trimmer, along with one of those nifty chainsaws-on-a-stick (I foresee a purchase in our future), and Kengineer helped them find the best spot and angle to cut. They didn't have to cut the power, and after they trimmed the branches on the line, they cut the limb of the living tree that was holding up the dead one, and bada-bing, bada-boom, the tree was down.

Thanks, guys, nice job, and I was really impressed!

I had a dentist appointment, so had to run out for that (turns out Cousin Shane was there one patient before me!), and when I got back, Ken had revved up the chainsaw and pulled up the tractor and cart. I didn't get to do any actual lumberjacking, just picked up the logs and loaded them into the cart as he cut them. (Beth + Chainsaw = Very Bad Idea.) We had two loads of wood, and he drove around to the woodpile in back (sure wish we had a fireplace!) and we unloaded. It was a solid couple of hours of work, and we've both taken some preemptive Advil. We were completely done by noon! Nice to get that taken care of and to not have to worry about that particular "falling sword." It was also fun to be out there working together, and it was a nice reminder of what people can accomplish together when they put their minds to it. We didn't move mountains, but we moved a big tree! (Are you listening, Washington? You can accomplish more if you work together.)

Happily, there were no injuries, although the jury is out on poison ivy exposure. The downed tree had a big vine of ivy running up it, but I think we were able to deal with it without getting it on us. Ken is a lot more susceptible to it than I am, but we both showered promptly after we came in.

Off to do some reading, both book and blogs. Coming soon...some thoughts on the disruption of town hall meetings. And yes, Lucy, I promise to tell it like it is...at least the way I see it!

In honor of our morning's work, here's one of my favorites from Monty Python.