We’ve had some big changes happen around here the last few days.
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For years Jeff and I have wanted to get a few trees cut down. In the beginning, it was more of a “I wonder what it would be like if…” but we loved the trees and didn’t like the idea of cutting any down, even if it would be really nice to have some more sunlight. Over time, however, we felt it would be safer if some trees near the house were removed and slowly got ourselves used to the idea of parting with a few. We talked about it, but to be honest, it always felt out of reach, out of the realm of possibility. With our small chainsaw that only runs when it feels like it, the fact that Jeff would have to climb the trees (and we don’t have that equipment), and the trees being so close to the house and one near a powerline….. well, we knew what we really needed was to hire someone. We wondered if some of the trees we wanted to have cut would be worth any money for lumber, then we might be able to trade services for wood? We found out they weren’t. Darn. We knew it would be expensive to hire someone and living as simply as we do, that kind of money is just not something we have. This past winter, with all the storms, with trees and branches falling all over the place, we knew it was time. Before we just casually talked about it, saying “oh, that’d be nice” or “it’d be good if we could…”, but after the storms we realized it was more of a need than we knew. Those storms spurred us into action and we thought “there’s got to be a way.”
We saw our friend at the local co-op one day and we got to talking about all the damage from the storms and for some reason I started telling her all about wanting to get some trees cut. It just came pouring out of my mouth. Well, it’s a good thing it did because she gave us a phone number of someone she knew who didn’t mind cutting down the hard to deal with trees (which ours were.) We called. He came out, looked at what we wanted, and gave us an estimate. Yikes. How could we ever possibly afford that? Well, turns out he was more than happy to take payments. We felt hesitant at first, did we want to spend money we didn’t have and owe him for who knows how long? Most of the time our answer would be no, but this time
it just felt right and our dreams for this place, our visions, were so close… we said a big hearty Yes!
(And then it turned out he even wanted to do some trading for gifts for his wife- awesome!)
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For many years our dreams for this place have included the phrase “if we had a little more sunlight we could…” …(fill in the blank.) Every year we planted seeds and tried to fit all our garden in the small sun spots. We waited on planting blueberries, wondering how we’d fit them? If only we had a little more sun we could do so much. Our dreams felt restricted, though we still felt grateful for the sunny spots we did have and made the best of it.
Yes, we wanted the trees removed that were close to the house for safety reasons. And for more sunlight coming in the house. And for more sunlight for garden space. But later we realized there were other reasons too.
On Friday, as we busily packed up the truck and prepared for market, the maple tree out front was cut down. Can you spot our tree cutting hero up there? He did a great job. And afterwards? Wow! The view was so breathtaking, Jeff and I literally stood with our mouths open- speechless. You could see so much more of the mountain across the river. You could see so much more of the sky. It felt expansive and opening and amazing. Suddenly, it was as if there was more room to breathe.
While we loved being smack dab in the middle of the woods, it could get rather dark during our rainy Oregon winter. Suddenly there was so much sun. So much light. So much…. I don’t know exactly. But somehow we felt more free and our world opened up.
I wish I would have taken a picture with the tree from this angle so you could see the difference. I didn’t think of that until after.
There were leaves, branches, twigs, moss, lichen, sawdust, and tree trunks all over the place.
Then on Sunday the hemlock tree was cut down. Turns out is was rotten at the top. Add to that the fact that it was leaning towards the house and hemlock trees don’t tend to have the strongest root systems… we breathed a sigh of relief that it was down.
It opened up the view even more. It’s so vastly different that we haven’t gotten used to it yet. It’s still sinking it. We still look out the window and exclaim “oh my gosh!” The view we were used to seeing every day for so many years has changed so much. It’s a good change. I’ve been looking at Jeff, saying “Can this be real?!”
I think the hard work of cleaning it up is making it more real. Yesterday and today we’ve been working working working at the tangled piles. Sorting them. Small sticks for kindling. Logs for next year’s firewood. Moss, lichen and leaves for the compost pile. Sticks too small to save for kindling go to the burn pile (wish we had a chipper, but there’s hardly anything in the burn pile with all we’re saving.) It’s amazing how much work it is to clean up two trees. And there will be more to clean up soon.
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This year we wanted to start raising chickens and bees again, among many other goals. Thing is, we needed to build a new coop and knew no building projects could happen with all the tearing down around here. Old fencing has been coming down, old buildings (the greenhouse and another old building to go), and now trees. We decided to wait till next year for chickens and bees. This year our focus is on clearing the space, opening it up, and planting lots of herbs and some vegetables (and soon blueberries too.) It was a relief when we finally decided not to try to squeeze in all the projects we wanted to do this year. We get that way sometimes, wanting to do everything now. But it’s all coming together just as it should and we’re going with the flow as best we can. Sometimes life surprises us in ways more beautiful than we ever could have imagined. We didn’t realize just how much our Spirits would soar with the opening up of this space. I’m so glad we decided to find out.
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