Oh, Tannenbaum (March 11, 2012)

After advancing the clocks last night for Daylight Savings, we spent the long, 60-degree day outside, dismembering the 30-foot pine tree razed by Wind River when they installed our septic tank last fall (see Septic Bunker). Armed with a Sawzall, Kevin did the dirty work. I was the accomplice, feeling guilty as I cleared out the fragrant limbs and dragged them up a slight hill closer to the driveway, where they’d be easier to load for disposal. 

Call me sappy, but it bummed me out to see how densely green the needles were on branches that had sat squashed under the trunk for more than four months through the winter, and to know we were dealing it the final blow. The wood inside the bark looked pristinely fresh as we severed the limbs from the trunk. Kevin said, “It thinks it’s still alive."

We weren’t anticipating any regret last fall when Wind River asked if they could take it out. Their question made us realize we’d both secretly been wishing it down. It was too big, given how close it sat to the house; it was common, near the entrance to a state park full of specimens just like it; and we knew the front rooms would be much brighter without it. Still, it felt like a waste of life. We would have had to pile 30 Christmas trees to make as big a heap of evergreen.