Tree Debris

Sometime last year I was visiting my parents in Eagar, Arizona, where the wind blows approximately 367 days a year.  On this particular day, we were all returning home from lunch, hurrying inside to escape the wind, when I heard a creaking sound in the yard.  The aspen tree that my dad had planted when I was probably five years old, the tree that now towered far above the house, was slowly easing out of the ground and leaning toward the roof with every gust.

I didn’t even think. I just reacted. I grabbed a giant chain in the garage, flung it over my back and fearlessly climbed the toppling tree in 60 mph winds. I quickly wrapped the chain around the trunk, then shimmied down and attached the chain to the back of my truck.  Then I hopped in, gunned the engine, and ripped that tree right out of the ground, and safely away from the house, in a matter of minutes. Some might call me a hero, but I just did what needed to be done.

Ok, OK. So … that’s not really true.  My dad, the true fearless hero, did all that stuff.  I was just the one who noticed the tree was falling and jumped up and down and squealed “Daaad!  Look at the TREEE!”  But I’m still kind of a hero, right?  Sort of?

Anyway, Shannon at Sewing Barefoot was not quite as lucky, as this gigantic tree actually did fall all the way onto her house.  Look closely, there really is a house under there! But she took her lemons and turned them into lemonade, or more accurately, took a chainsaw to the tree trunk and turned it into this fabulously funky side table.  Who got the last laugh now, huh tree?

Pretty cool conversation piece too!