The Sycamore Tree. Part Two.

Sometimes in life, there are huge mountains to climb, metaphorically speaking. Sometimes some things just seem completely impossible. Sometimes I have allowed myself to day dream, but then I would come back to reality, and the pain, the heartache and frustration, would still be there. Sometimes in situations, and there usually is more than one, I would give up, but then, I just can’t give up, I know I have to try, at least one more time, for who knows, that could be the one that gets the result!

I was in the giving up stage, I had just come home from a long day at work, and was standing by the window in my living room, and I suddenly, looked to my left out of the widow, to the garden, and I had to do a double take!

I thought I was seeing things, for the monstrosity of a tree, was now seventy five percent gone! I looked again, yes, it had been cut up, thinned out, but it was still tall. Tears filled my eyes.

I could not get to the phone quick enough to ring Lesley. I said, “Lesley, it’s Maxine Jasmin-Green here, the tree has been cut up, is that how they are going to leave it?” She said, “No, they turned up today, and told me, “We will be taking the tree down,” I asked, “When?” He replied, “Today.”

Lesley told me, “They said to me, they will cut the tree down to ground level.” I replied, “That’s fantastic!” Lesley went on, “They will return either Monday or Tuesday to finish the job.” I added, “I still can’t believe it is coming down, I really hope it is all cut, down.” Lesley’s words reassured me, “It is definitely coming down.” I filled up again, with joy.

I said to Lesley, “I hope the rain don’t stop them.” She said, “It won’t,” And added, “One man was up the tree and six of them was below.” I added, “Well, it’s a big tree.” That was last week Thursday.

Later, the same day, my next-door neighbour on my left, saw me at the front of the house and she said, to me with a big smile on her face, “That tree is coming down, because of you, isn’t it?” I said, “I don’t know, I have made enough phone calls to them and I have written them a letter, and sent emails…” She didn’t let me finish, and added, “It’s because of you.” She was as happy as I was, for the leaves blighted her garden too, but not as much as it blighted mine.   

Monday came and went, then on Tuesday, I heard the electric saw! And sure, enough as I looked out of the window, Meghan and myself saw a man high up on the platform of a cherry picker, we didn’t know how he was communicating to the driver below, but wherever he wanted to go he either used a hand saw or an electric saw, and when he used the electric saw, he put his ear muffs on. He was doing, precise, steady, and careful work, he went up, down, left, and right. It was fascinating to watch him. Meghan said, “Do you think he can see us watching him?” I replied, “Well if we can see him, he can see us looking at him, so yes.”

An hour later, I went out into the back of my garden, the man was still cutting the tree down, as I stood there looking at him, for he was not high up now, for most of it was gone, he said to me, “Are you happy?” I replied, “I am now.” I took pictures of him and what was left of the tree.

I then went out the house, and around the road to the other side of my fence, where the tree trunk is and from a distance took more picture. The work men saw me, I rang Lesley but she was out, as she didn’t reply. It was weird to be able to see her roof and the back of my house from there. There was still about fifteen feet left to cut down. I then went back home, still in disbelief.

I took my letter from my diary, the copy that I had kept for myself, it was dated April 2022, and how I had told them, “If this seventy-five-foot, tree fell onto the three little houses below, people would die!” They listened, they actually listened.

Later from my window, in the lounge all I could see was the top of my fence. The following day, I was surprised just how much lighter the lounge was and the bathroom! That tree had not just been sapping us of life, and chucking its many leaves onto my garden, covering my lawn, but it had been blocking out the light too and we didn’t know it.

I decided to go round and see Lesley and to take pictures. Paul and I went, and as I started to take pictures, Lesley came out of her home.

She showed me the large blocks of cut up trunks that was left, and that men in twos had picked up many of them and carted them off to give to friends who would use them as fuel. She showed me the two-foot-high stump of the tree, and she said, “I have asked them to come back and level it to the ground and not to leave it like that, as that’s what they said, they would do.”

Lesley also told us, “The man told me, “The branches that was hanging over into the garden was all rotten, and would have caused a lot of damage if it had fallen into the garden.” And there I was worrying about the three little houses, when it was under that huge tree, I wanted to put my grandsons swing set!    

Paul noticed her little patch of grass was in poor condition, compared to her other two neighbours, and Lesley said, “I don’t mind about the grass, but next year I will be able to plant flowers.” What a lovely thought, that hope had sprung back into her heart. This damn tree had depressed us all in different ways. 

We three stood there and talked for a further thirty minutes, the tree had united us. Lesley said, “Keep in touch,” I replied, “I will.” And then Paul and I left.

This was another chapter in our lives, the impossible had happened. It had taken decades to grow and just less than two days to take down! In fact, putting the man-hours together it took in total, about seven hours to be removed.

I have learnt in life, not to give up! When things look glum, and it seems like the brick wall is too high, too wide, too deep. Eventually, the wall will come down.