A Few Extra Hands to Lighten the Work

2010 is starting off with a bang.   The Douglas Forest Protective Association contacted us at the end of 2009 and asked if we would like some free labor to make our property more defendable from a forest fire.  Duh!  We answered that in a heartbeat with a resounding "Yes!"  Historically the home owner is expected to do this work, but some funds magically appeared in the county and we get to reap the benefit.  We were told this is not Obama-bucks. 

We were excited at the prospect of having lots of free labor, but the reality of the possibilities set in about 2 days before the crew arrived.  The DFPA recommended limbing all trees within 100 feet of the house up 15' off the ground.  That way lower limbs cannot act as a fire ladder and transfer a ground fire up into the crown of the tree.  We like that idea, but we also happen to like the way this place looks, which includes lots of foliage.  Visible foliage, not 15 feet in the air.  (Do you know how high 15' is?  Pretty high! Second story high.)  We walked the designated area  and started asking ourselves do we really want them to cut that, or that, or that?  How can we control what they cut if there are lots of guys wielding chainsaws and we can't personally supervise the entire project?  We started really worrying about what this place would look like after they left.

In preparation, we did some delicate surgery on special trees.  Ones we did not trust to other people's hands.  The huge cedar just north of the barn, right by the badminton court, is beautiful.  Its limbs reach gracefully down to the ground.  It has taken 2 people to mow around it, because one person has to actually lift limbs out of the way.  We could hardly bring ourselves to do it, but we pruned this tree three days before the work crew was due to arrive.  Sorry, but in our haste to do it ourselves, we forgot to take before photos.  Matter of fact, we even forgot to take after photos.  Very few people would notice the limbs had ever been cut, but now the branches are all at least 2' off of the ground.  During the summer, if a fire swept through the area, it would be a grass fire and the grass is very low out there. 

The crew was due to arrive at 8 am Tuesday morning.  We were out cutting more limbs before they arrived.  Again, we were selecting very specific limbs and trimming them rather than removing them.  Long Shadows looks so cool with its lovely draping branches.   Well, we trimmed, and trimmed, and trimmed.   We hauled limbs to a pile, and hauled limbs, and hauled limbs.  The crew was an hour late.  Good thing they got here when they did, we were already getting pretty tired.  (And wet -- it was raining.)  Using a pruning saw on the end of a 16' pole is kind of exhausting.  Little did we know that this would be the easy part of the day.

They came equipped with multiple chainsaws, including one on an extension pole that reaches about 15'.  But the really important thing they brought was this monster chipper/shredder.  Not only were they going to whack down limbs, but they were going drag them to the location of OUR choice and chip them up.  What a deal!

Thibodeaux has to be right in the thick of things.
This is the dog that runs away if someone farts.  Wait until they crank that baby up!

We walked around with the crew chief and told him exactly what we wanted done and not done, where they were not to work and the trees they were not to touch.  We had placed our own plastic ribbon on limbs and trees not to be removed.   And we hoped that the guys would remember our instructions. But if they didn't, we planned to be right there.

As they suited up in their chainsaw chaps and positioned the chipper in the desired location, we made a mad dash to take BEFORE photos.  Once the stuff is cut down, it's too late to take photos.

6 hours of hard, wet work later, Long Shadows looks a little different.  Maybe even a little better.

We worried a lot about how it was going to look.  "Pretty good!" we decided after the job was done.  Notice that pile of chips behind that cedar tree? It's about 5 feet high and even bigger across. It's going to make great mulch. That's work for a different day.

The debris from this tree clogs our gutters all the time.   Besides, it hangs over the roof and could easily spread a fire to the house. We actually wish they'd limbed it higher, but their pole didn't reach any farther.

This is where the driveway comes in from the road.  Probably the biggest change on the property.  But now a fire truck would have no trouble turning in.  Notice the gravel is nice and clean in the before photo on the left.  It is not so clean in the after shot.  A truck spent the day hauling debris back to the chipper.  The area around the chipper --and the truck-- became MUDDY messes as the number of trips and the rainfall increased.

Now bear something in mind.  There were 5 men cutting and chipping.  At first, that didn't leave anybody to do the hauling.  So the two very industrious ladies of the forest began their real job for the day:  hauling limbs and trees or sections of trees out of the woods, up the slope, to the chipper (if the limbs were around the barn) or to the roadside for the guy to load into the truck and drive back to the chipper. Once all the cutting was done, everyone (except the 2 guys chipping) was busy hauling.

Way back in the distance, along the garden road, you can see the pickup truck.  They just brought a load of sticks to the chipper. 

The limbing of this particular tree was the most nerve-racking for us.  It is one of the first trees you see when you turn in our driveway.  It is very visible from all the front windows.  We loved the limbs growing all the way down to the ground.  We made them do it one limb at a time, considering the effect after each one.  After we told them to stop, Nancy delicately hand-pruned more low-hanging branches.  Once the job was complete, we agreed that it looks nicer.  Now when flowers are blooming in the south garden, we will be able to see them from the house.  The pile of logs in front of the tree are NOT tree trunks, but the butt ends of limbs.  We will buck them into firewood.

Another area we worried about so very much.  This one will take a little more getting used to.  That blasted power pole is now visible.  But it IS close to the house, and now it's safer.  Maybe we can camouflage the pole!

Removing the limbs certainly opens up the view.  Now when a herd of elk wanders through the meadow below, we might actually see them.

The view out by the barn also opened up.  From a slightly different location, the tree house is now visible. 

We were really pleased with the DFPA crew of guys. They worked hard all day long. They were very concerned with making sure they were doing things the way we wanted. And at the end of the day, they kept working hard to clean things up, even asking for a rake so they could manicure the area where they'd been chipping. We were impressed and appreciative.

All day it rained on and off.  Never very hard, but steadily.  Fir limbs hold a lot of water and the rain had them saturated.  Wading into the underbrush to embrace a load of limbs was a very wet endeavor.  For some of us, just watching was a wet endeavor.

Rain does funny things to the boy's hairdo.

Notice the only dry place on Nancy.  It was the area under her rain jacket. Well, at least the jacket did its job.

Do you know how heavy and cold WET blue jeans are???

This is Dianne's sock.  She was wearing low-quarter rubber shoes.  The sock got so wet it wicked clear down into the shoe.
Only one little section was still dry at the end of the day. 
Nancy didn't bother taking a picture of her socks, because they were entirely soaked inside her boots.

Now it is time to rest.  An ice pack on the lower back or knee, depending upon the individual,  along with a couple ibuprofen apiece.
Before very long, we'll be so used to the "new look" we won't remember how those trees used to be except through these pictures.