A six letter word that starts with D, ends with R O Y. The clue is; never to be the same again.
With two thirds of the crossword puzzle completed she voiced the word pleased with herself. “D E S T R O Y”.
A cake was in the oven. It was her husbands birthday cake, his seventy ninth. Their grown children and grandchildren were due to arrive shortly.
A rainbow pattern of light shone through the hanging crystal onto the kitchen backsplash. “That’s strange” she thought. Strange to see that light at this hour. Something was different.
She glanced out the kitchen window into the backyard.
A man was suspended in the tree. A rope and harness supporting him. He wore a yellow hard hat, thick suspenders, and a fluorescent shirt. In his hand was a small chainsaw; its engine running.
She tossed the crossword puzzle to the floor and ran outside. Adrenaline spiked as the grey lady marched out the sliding glass doors onto the sundeck.
“What is going on?“ she hollered.
The man did not respond.
A fit of rage overtook the grandmother as she absorbed the reality of what was happening. Her tree was being destroyed.
Vile words began to spew from her mouth towards the dirty climbing man.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m doing what I’m told.” the man responded as if irritated. He pointed at the neighbouring home to the rear. “They want more light.”.
“You’ve topped my tree.”. She stood there vibrating.
The top twenty five feet of the twenty five year old Christmas tree lie horizontally on the ground.
There are two types of problems we face in the world of arboriculture.
Tree problems and People problems
Most arborists are pretty good with the tree problems. It’s the people problems where they need help.
Arborists stumble upon emotional tornadoes like they stumble upon hornets nests.
There is something about tree anger. It can certainly get a reaction out of people.
- A docile seventy six year old woman turns into a raging maniac.
- A righteous thirteen year old child turns to political activism.
- Responsible parents turn into weapon wielding barbarians ready to fight to the death.
- The piano teacher next door is losing her shit at the site of a truck and chipper parked on her street.
Arborists should become experts at dealing with this type anger.
Is your community doing enough to protect trees?
More and more places are.
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