Timber.
We always knew at some point we were probably going to have to cut that tree down, that red oak in the backyard that was the tallest, most majestic tree in the neighborhood. We finally had it removed about a month ago, and it sorta sucked. We knew we needed to do it to move forward with some other plans, but it was still a tough decision to make, and it still hurt to see it come down.
We've taken some good-natured heat from some friends. Not undeserved. But in the end, they understand why we're doing it.
The yard's going to look better at some point but for now it looks worse, with the tree gone. Not as bad, though, as that first week and a half after it came down, when it just didn't look right driving up the alley and seeing nothing where once we saw that massive presence that had been there for so many years. When, in the front yard, layers and layers of branches and leaves and trunk were stacked in a heap, helplessly waiting to be picked up and taken somewhere else.
One of the things we counted on from the red oak was a surge every spring. It didn't always get off to a fast start but eventually it would come to life, reliably and with poise and authority. We won't have that any more, and that's a little sad.
(I want to admit how sappy this is, but don't want to lower myself by resorting to that word.)
(Whoops.)
Was age a factor? Maybe. Maybe not. It was just time for something different. And now it's been done. We're moving forward. There's no turning back. We're setting emotions aside.
People have to cut trees down. It happens.
The Rangers have 10 days to trade Jason Botts or try to get him through waivers.
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