On Thursday, Rich put his signature on the plans for a new garage.  Our contractor, Pete D., brought out the latest plan for sign off and to move the process along.  I did my part and got a new plat started showing the latest changes to the house.  The next thing was removal of four trees from the backyard.

A year ago, we had some tree damage from a storm and the oaks in the backyard required some maintenance to prevent further damage.  I called Mark’s Tree Service up in McHenry to come out and take care of the work.  They did a fantastic job.  I was very happy with the work and Mark wasn’t too bad to deal with.

I put the call into Mark to come out and give me an estimate on the removal of the hickory trees that were in the way of the new construction.  The price wasn’t bad and we talked about taking out the hickory tree from the back of the lot that now appeared to have died.

Mark called on Thursday to let me know that his schedule was open for Friday and those trees were coming down.  It was just like one of the Crashers shows on HGTV.  “I’ll see you bright and early at 7:00 AM on Friday with all my trucks in a row.”

Around 7:20 AM, Mark and his guys show up.  That’s fine.  There were four large trucks, two pickups with trailers, and a single pickup truck.  I felt overwhelmed.  I stepped out on the deck to talk to Mark about the work and make sure he remembered that the building inspector at the end of the street was getting some of the wood.  We were good to go.

The bucket truck took Marco, the site supervisor, up to the top of the first tree and they were off to the races.  The limbs came tumbling down and it wasn’t long before that first tree trunk hit the ground.  It hit pretty hard too.  I felt it while I was working away in the office.  I had to run out to see what had been flattened.  All the guys were standing, so that was a good thing.  The work progressed.

Sascha is all excited by the noise and the people milling around outside.  She is beside herself with excitement to go and join them.  Unfortunately for her, that wasn’t going to happen.  She stood at the back door and the windows to see the action.  She ran between the two as people moved around the yard.  I’m pretty sure the noise from the chainsaws was deafening for her.

As the guys were starting up, Brad, the neighbor behind us, came over to try and get some of the tree trunks for bonfires.  I took him and introduced him to Mark.  I let them work out the details.  Mark was happy to put a couple of the sections into Brad’s yard for his personal use.  I didn’t care as long as it left my yard.

I was emailing Rich as the work progressed.  I told him about Brad coming by to try and get tree remains.  Rich mentioned that he wanted some of the branches for smoking.  Well, that would mean another trip outside to try and find Mark.  OK, I guess so.  I went out and stood around the driveway looking for Mark.  Apparently, he had left to take a look at another job.  I couldn’t find Marco either.  I stopped one of the guys to ask about some branches I saw lying in the yard.  He agreed to put some on the patio so Rich would have wood for smoking that wonderful BBQ.

Around 10:30, the last hickory tree hit the ground.  And it hit big.  Because they had room, they took it down in one piece without trimming the top out.  It landed out in the backyard and almost touched the Oak Street.  They spent the next hour trimming down the tree and getting it out of the yard.

My yard looks so bare.  There was lots of sunshine and very little shade.  This is going to be different.  Then I notice all of the sawdust lying on everything.  The cover to the hot tub is brown and no the red it used to be.  The patio is dusty as you walk across it.

Around 12:10, the last of the trucks pull away from the front of my house.  Sascha starts to calm down. I put her in the backyard.  She stands looking at the spot where her favorite tree had stood.  Poor girl doesn’t seem to understand what is different.  I walk around the yard taking pictures.  It’s so empty.

Looking over at the trees that Mark had put into Brad’s yard, I see that the fourth tree is lying there.  The entire center of the tree is hollow.  I guess that would explain why it had started to die.  It must have been bad for a while.  I got a picture showing the whole through the trunk.

I realize without the two trees that Sascha can reach, her days are over for catching squirrels.  Thank goodness.  I don’t hear any of the squirrel chattering that I thought I might.  The squirrels didn’t seem to be angry that their trees were gone.  No more nuts falling on my head or being thrown at me.  No more sap on the driveway or cars.  Maybe the new garage will be worth it.

I will miss the hostas that I had planted around the dual trees in the middle of the yard.  I guess I’ll just have to replant them next to the garage next spring.  Maybe I’ll put in a new flower bed there with a really nice variety of plants.  Maybe it’ll be a good spot for a vegetable garden.

So the next step is the excavation.  This is estimated to start around November 1.  After that, the concrete will get poured and the framing can then begin.