A long time ago, when our children were little, a cluster of sweet gum trees in the back yard were selected to be the tree house trees. A platform was placed between the 3 trunks for a floor, boards were nailed to one trunk as a ladder, and a fireman's pole was strategically placed for a quick get-away. The kids spent many hours in that tree house, using their imaginations to unfurl intricate playtime sagas of epic proportion. Only one problem with it existed, and that was that the baby sister was not quite tall enough to reach the fireman's pole, so she had to step out onto a limb so she could reach it. After many trips by the little sister down the pole, the limb broke with her, and she had to spend 6 weeks with a cast on her broken leg. The trees went on to become the horse pasture corner post, and later they furnished perfect perching and nesting sites for many of the yard birds which we enjoy so much. Those sweet gums afforded cool shade in summer, beautiful fall color, in winter they were architectural interest without their leaves or when ice or snow covered them, and the buds to announce spring swelled large long before most others in the yard. So when one trunk died, it was left standing for the birds, but when the second trunk showed signs of passing we began discussing how to get 2 trunks down without harming the 3rd. That became a moot point, because with the arrival of spring 2011, we discovered that all 3 trunks were dead, and had to be cut. After much planning and disagreeing on how to accomplish this chore, it was decided that a tree cutting service should be employed, and we called on OLD GAPPY! They did the job with very little fanfare, and Wayne and Doug cleaned up the yard after the trees were felled and cut into sections. The passing of an era!
It's time to plant a new tree!
