The Opposite Of A Tree Hugger...

That's US! On Saturday (the 12th) Jordan and I once again set out to tackle the "tree project" that was left in our backyard FROM DECEMBER that our landlord still hasn't done anything about. He did let us borrow his chainsaw though, so I guess he wasn't COMPLETELY useless. Anyhoo, we went to Walmart and got some safety goggles and gloves and headed out to the backyard. In case you forgot what it looked like out there, here are some pics.

December Trees



April Trees



July Trees

In order to cut down some of the limbs, we knew we would need a ladder. (Obviously!!) So, we got the ladder from Chase & Meghan's house (Jordan's dad bought it back in December for Jordan and Chase to share and this is the first time we've actually had a REAL need for it). Anyhoo, we got that out there, but since it's only a 6 foot we were kinda limited in what we could do. HOWEVER, we have a neighbor 2 doors down that cuts trees commercially, so I went and asked him if we could borrow a ladder. He said sure and actually brought it down to the house. While he was there he saw the "project" and he said to us (I'm not kidding) "I could help you cut some of this down, I have a chainsaw on a stick that I could go get." Yes, ladies and gentlemen, he said "A CHAINSAW ON A STICK". He quickly decided this was a good idea, so he walked off to get it leaving Jordan and I looking at each other and both picturing something like a wooden rake handle with a chainsaw and duct tape. (We ARE in Oklahoma afterall! Sorry all you Oklahoma readers....Both of You!!).

Well, to our surprise (and delight and RELIEF) he came back with a commercial chainsaw that had an extension pole on it. He sliced off some of the high branches that were broken and twisted (which was cool cuz we were looking at them thinking that even with the taller ladder there was no way we could get to them). He even picked up our landlord's chainsaw and inspected it. He decided that it needed oil and the blade sharpened, so Jordan put oil in it then he kindly sharpened the blade (which took him about 2 minutes, if that). Overall, we wouldn't have been able to accomplish as much as we did without his help. (Thanks Dan!)

Obviously we've still got a ways to go to complete the project, but at least we made a dent. Now we pretty much just have to cut up the stuff that's on the ground and set the twigs/branches out by the road for the mulch/landscape removal people (in Norman they have a regular weekly pickup day for things like grass clippings, twigs, etc. just like a regular trash day).