Last week, we had some nasty wind damage. It doesn't take nasty wind damage to cause the Zombie Maple to shed twigs and little branches. Giant branches and trunks require those nasty winds, and because e got them, the Zombie Maple shed not one trunk, but two, and some rather large branches.
In the process of chopping the tree bits up, I broke hte chain on my chain saw and had to go out and buy a new one. Sears was sold out of chains in my size. For some odd reason, I assumed that because I had a wimpy little electric chainsaw, even if it is a Craftsman, few other people would have one and the replacement buts would be easy to find.
I found my replacement chain at the same place I bought the new window unit (which is installed and running now, Xoco will be pleased to stay home next week).
I got that new chain on and ripped away at the debris.
Remember how it looked last week:
This is how that space now looks:
And this is what's left of what was once a magnificent 80+ foot tall maple tree:
It's maybe 30 feet tall now.
I think the pile of shed bits is bigger than what's left behind. This pile is 12 feet tall, 25-30 feet wide, and 10 feet or so deep. I have to chop all of this into 6-8 foot lengths so I can set it all at the curb for the mulchers to come along and grind it all down.
Big Trash Day is unfortunately not until November, so once I reduce this pile to the right length, it will have to stay stacked under the mulberry tree for months.
Yes, I know cities will have a special Big Trash Day to haul away the tree bits after a large storm. They did that last week, and I didn't have time to hack and chop and sort until this weekend, so I missed it. I guess other people can take time off from work to do this or hire others to do this for them.
What can I say? I'm slow and lazy. And because I missed the Big Trash Pick-Up, I have months of procrastination time ahead of me.