The Branch That Broke The Camel's Back

I’m cheap.  Most people would agree with this self-evaluation despite the fact that I never seem to have any money.  The reality is that I’m cheap when it comes to things I need.  I’ll throw away smaller amounts on little things like songs on iTunes or a $10 pair of sunglasses.  But I hate spending more than $40 on sneakers or jeans.  That explains my lame, outdated wardrobe.

Being a suburban homeowner has made it hard to be so miserly.  Fellow homeowners know that anything that needs to be fixed in a house will cost some major coin.  Just this year, the dishwasher and the hot water heater died.  I’m pretty sure either the fridge or the dryer is getting ready to go.  And I don’t venture out on my deck without shoes.  It’s because of all this that I’ve held off on having my trees pruned.  I bought one of those things that have a sharp saw at the end of a 16-foot pole and I’ve balanced precariously at the top of a ladder in order to do some of my own pruning.  But every time there’s a big rainstorm or some wind, I find huge limbs all over the driveway, the front yard, the back yard.  I’ve actually been hoping to avoid paying a tree service thousands of dollars because I figured all the dead branches would just fall off by themselves.

Then this happened.  

What you’re looking at it the latest limb to fall from my trees.  I’ve seen them standing up out of the ground before.  But this one is at least 12 feet long.  It took a lot of work getting it out if the ground because it had planted itself a few inches in.  Well, if branches that big are falling from the sky, it’s time to protect my family, my car, my house and the house of my neighbor (one of the trees looks like it was going to land on it).  And now I’m $2500 poorer.  But there are still several trees remaining, which is great because I’m going to need them to hand the clothesline once the dryer dies.