Destruction and Maintenance in the ‘Hood

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Limbs of a Bradford pear tree were blown down by wind. I think it may have happened in the middle of the night, because none of us heard it. John left in the early hours of the morning when it was still dark. He didn’t mention it when he called to let me know he had gotten to the train club. This is the view from our front porch.

Neighbor Bob the Builder was working on his grounds. He used the equipment to dig and was picking up ties from his truck. We stood there spellbound as he maneuvered it deftly.

We scooted out of the way as he swung around and deposited the ties in place. We were very impressed. And to think, he didn’t have video games to play with as a child!

My favorite photo was taken a few days earlier. When I came back from walking, I saw Bob’s hat hanging on a light fixture. It made me laugh, and the camera wanted to know what was amusing.

If we’d had wind that night like we did last night, that hat would have sailed into the next county.

Published by Anne Mehrling

I'm a retiree who loves to write about life in the mountains of North Carolina.

Published

46 thoughts on “Destruction and Maintenance in the ‘Hood”

    1. The two downed limbs will be taken away. I don’t know the fate of the tree itself. When we moved here, John wanted to remove the two trees in the front to make way for a large flag pole. I begged on behalf of the trees, and he put that idea on hold. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it resurface. We probably should get an expert opinion on the viability of the maimed tree.

      xxx Tree Triage Hugs xxx

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    1. I knew the pear trees had a tendency to fall apart, but they were fine for the first five years we were here. I enjoyed them. Maybe it’s time for them to go.

      I hope people would consider our neighborhood well-dressed, otherwise they’ll think we have careless drifters in residence.

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  3. My neighbor Marge had two of them, one got diseased and one split in two after a 39 mph wind (same one that caused my shed to blow off its moorings). They are tall but unstable is what the tree cutter told her. They sure were pretty in Spring though and full of birds, even all Winter.

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      1. I never knew they were weak wood once they got tall and spindly. Marge/her husband planted those two trees the year they moved there and they grew like crazy – the one split in half on its own; the other one was taken down.

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              1. Yes, all nice-looking trees. All full of ants unfortunately. And I put bark all around the perimeter of the yard and the bark had to go, but the landscape ties, since they were wolmanized wood were allowed to stay.

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    1. We did not have lightning, so it was wind alone that did the damage to the tree. I was never afraid of the pear trees, because the limbs are not heavy. Thankfully, the 200-year-old oak tree was trimmed recently. The huge limbs over the house are gone.

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      1. When we lived in Alabama, we had a huge storm that drove a branch into the roof. It was a high pitched roof and there was no one around to plug up the hole but me. Pretty scary stuff that. You can imagine a 60+ year old woman precariously perched on the roof laying tarp down. I had to take my shoes off, so my feet could grip better. It was pretty scary.

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              1. You’re sweet. Well to be honest, it was invigorating and I sure as heck wish I could still do my climbing and stuff, but unfortunately as we age, we have to recognize and accept our new limitations. Right?

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                  1. It is what it is, isn’t it? I think the real eye opener for me, (because I’m a grand resister) was when I played a granny for Comicon. I could not believe the deference showed me by young and old alike. It was nice that folks were so nice and considerate. I thought, maybe being a granny isn’t so bad after all.

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  6. These storms come to pass. Your tree will be fine but the broken limb – is broken.
    What I wonder is if you are writing a story about ‘ The adventures of the flying hat’.
    Could be good. 😊

    Miriam

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  7. We’ve lost quite a few trees around our property this year. One healthy pine snapped off and thankfully missed any structures. One that I did take a photo of, but you can’t tell anything like you can in person was of a little tree we have that we don’t really know what it is. The wind actually blew the tree and split the bark at the bottom where part held on in the wind. I’ve never seen anything like it. We noticed it because the tree is leaning now. We’ve quit planting Bradfords because of how they split so easy and because the seeds that grow wild from a Bradford have huge spikey thorns on them. I won’t say what we call those Bradfords.

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    1. I didn’t realize Bradfords had seeds that produced rogue plants. Maybe ours are kept mowed down. We want someone to look at the damaged tree to see if it should be cut down. If so, we won’t replace it.

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      1. We learned the hard way. We planted 5 I think. One is left standing. We were told Cleveland Pears were better but I think they’re the same. We have one left. In a field near our home that is not kept mowed. It is full of wild Bradford’s with thorns. I made a crown of thorns one time from the branches. We have one large wild Bradford that I wish we’d taken down when we could. The purchased Bradfords were so pretty until they started breaking and splitting. My new favorite ornamental tree is the Chinese Pistachio, but I still love Red Maples and White Birch too.

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          1. That would be extra nice. 🙂 I’d like a flag on our next home but I don’t know all the rules yet for taking it in etc. I’m sure I’ll have plenty of time to figure it out.

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  10. I was excited to watch our town use its special crane to pick up a discarded sofa and put it in the truck bed. You and I are getting our fun wherever we can watching others at work!

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    1. The stereotype is of young boys watching construction sites. They left out women named Elizabeth who are interested in things going on around them. (My first name is Elizabeth, though it was never verbally applied to me.)

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  11. Anne,
    You are an Elizabeth too ?
    Both my daughters are Elizabeths( named after their respective grandmother godmothers). I am glad your house was not damaged in the winds that took the trees down- but am sad for the trees. A flagpole or a flag from he house would be good.
    Glad you are all well.

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  13. We lost a Bradford pear to wind too. I heard from a man who works at a nursery that their branches are too close together. They are easy trees to blow down.

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