stereoman's Blog

A few years before I moved into this house, there was a lovely red maple covering much of the front yard. One day, the power company, having determined that the tree was a "hazard" to the electrical wires feeding the house, came in and "trimmed" it. They cut it back so far that it rapidly lost its vigor, and by the time I came here in 2003, it was nearly dead.

I love trees, all kinds of trees, and maple trees are especially beautiful, and useful. But I was not inclined to devote much energy to saving this maple tree, because I was so deeply involved in so many other projects that seemed much more essential, and potentially fruitful, that it was hard to justify diverting my efforts to what would very likely be an exercise in futility.

Instead, my mind began to turn around visions of what could be in that spot if the maple tree wasn't there. I saw a Japanese maple in my mind, elegantly bonsai'd. I saw a bed of perennials. I saw another water feature. I saw a sunny space for my precious Elephant Ears. I waited. With each passing year, the maple tree deteriorated further.

Last Fall, I had a woodworker friend of mine cut it down. It was so far gone, he said all the wood was good for was the stove.

Now I must remove the stump from the ground. 

When I first began digging it up, my neighbors scoffed. "You'll never get it out of there!" they said. "When do you plan to be done with that - next lifetime?!!" they teased.

They may be right. It's one heck of a stump. My brother-in-law, bless his deranged heart, has actually been coming over of his own volition to help me burrow, beat, lacerate, crush, and pummel the rotting wood. My next door neighbor offered to loan me a come-along when the time was right, but seeing how it looks now that I've exposed its gnarly underbelly, has retracted his offer.

Will I ever get it out of the ground? And, then what?

 Stay tuned!