Dharma commented on my last article and it brought to mind an incident that occured a few years ago.
When my son was one, my mother gave him a Elmo Alarm Clock that would play the Seseme Street theme song for the alarm. *roll eyes* Of course my son figured out how to turn the music off and on. Hw would sit and play the first line of that stupid song over and over. Finally, I stuck it in the garage so I could have some peace and quiet. That night at about 3 am it goes off. Echoing through the garage and causing me nightmares until I woke up enough to realize the noise in my dream was actually playing in real life.
I staggered into the garage, dug it out of the Goodwill box and tried to turn it off. Maybe I was just too tired, but I couldn't make it stop...so I beat it on the floor until the music finally died. Needless to say, there wasn't enough left to give to Goodwill.
I told you all that so I could tell you this.
When we moved into our house there was a weeping willow out front. It was wintertime, so I wasn't surprised that there was a lack of leaves. But as months passed, I realized that half the tree was dead of some sort of rot and the other half was warping. Then I realized the reason the porch was developing a crack was the presence of a tree root! That was the last straw. I decided right then and there that the tree was going to go.
For those who know me, I may research and think out the repercussions of my actions for weeks or months before taking action, but when I decide on a plan....Then I am doing it. Not tomorrow or this afternoon, but RIGHT NOW.
So when I saw the crack and realized the culprit was the ugly tree, I decided that it was coming down. I started by testing the branches, to see what was dry rotted out. I didn't know that I was going to rip it out with my bare hands until the second or third branch snapped off. By then I was in a groove. I broke off as many branches as I could with my hands.
Finally I had two main branches that diverted from the trunk about a foot off the ground. I started jumping on one until it cracked and continued until it snapped off. (This is not as easy as it sounds)
About 20 minutes into my project, I glanced up and realized that the kids walking home form school were crosssing the street so they wouldn't have to walk past my house. That's when it hit me. I was a psycho, jumping on a tree. *Sigh* But the damage had been done, so I finished the job, dragged the remains of the tree to the curb and went inside.
The moral to the story: Nobody knocks on my door for Halloween. I wonder if the story of the crazy tree lady got around?