Tree Hugger's Lament

When we first moved to the farm outside of Warkworth, Ontario, 25 years ago, there was a very young Catalpa tree growing beneath the wires that brought hydro to the house. I decided it should be moved so that it could grow without being an eventual threat to those wires. I moved it. It struggled for a few years, but eventually it grew and flourished. When we sold the Warkworth property, it was about 25 feet high with a truck of about 2 feet in circumference. Yes it suffered in the late frosts we occasionally had. It lost its leaves, looked dead and then eventually it would send out new foliage. Its bloom was magnificent.

Then we sold our home and moved to Nova Scotia. It was a delight to discover that next to our driveway at our newly purchased home was a towering Catalpa of a size we had never seen. Its girth was at least five or six feet and its height approaching one hundred feet. As in Ontario, it came into leaf late.

Unfortunately, we discovered it had a large crevice at the base of the trunk and the main limb near the top was splitting away. The tree had a definite lean towards our house. Sadly, it had to go! But the tree was about one foot off our property line and the house next door was vacant; its owner rarely coming to the house of his birth.

Luckily, we discovered that a neighbour was acting as a caretaker of the large home and was able to contact this absent owner. After explaining the situation to the owner, the neighbour advised that we had permission to remove the tree, but that it would be at our own expense. Although this was not the hoped for response, we agreed.

However, being new to the area, we had no idea whom to contact. The neighbour said he could recommend someone reliable and that he would give us the phone number when he got home. That day the phone number did not appear. The next morning as we were having coffee, there was some commotion outside. It was the neighbour with two young men who operate a professional tree removal service. They have the equipment for such a daunting job. Yes, they could take down the monster tree and they could do it two days from now!

Since arriving at our new home, we have been constantly amazed by the endless stream of very capable contractors who have filled our need for various undertakings here. Carpenters, plumbers, electricians, heavy equipment operators and more, they have all been extremely reliable and a pleasure to be around. Moreover, they have all been promptly at our service. The amount of work that has been accomplished in the short time we have resided here has simply astounded us.