And It Came Crashing Down

I slept in a bit today.  It was hard not to since it was so overcast out; it made for a nice, dark bedroom.  As I was drifting in and out of consciousness, I could hear heavy machinery working outside...seemed really close to our house.  When I got out of bed and looked out the front window, I saw why it sounded so close!  A whole crew of folks was working on cutting down a couple of dying oak trees that were a danger to power lines, passing traffic, etc., one of which was at the edge of our property.

 

The above picture is the tree on the edge of our property.  The guy in yellow is cutting a wedge out at the bottom so they can direct the way the tree falls.  They also had tied a cable around the top of the tree to help pull it down. (picture below)

I thought it was neat to see a giant oak tree come down.  Not something you see every day, so David grabbed Peamite Alpha and we watched as they prepared to bring the towering tree down.  Peamite Alpha asked me to take his picture as we watched.  He likes to do silly faces...I call this silly Cheeto face.

He said, "Let me see, let me see!" and just as I finished showing him the picture I had taken of him (which he was very proud of) the tree came crunching down.  

It sounded like a bunch of twigs and sticks snapping in two all at the same time with a final thump as it hit the ground.  It didn't sound like how a live tree does when it's cut...creeeeeaaking, snapping, thump.  This one crunched a lot, confirming to me that it was mostly dead. (The Princess Bride flashback...remember that scene? 

Miracle Max: He probably owes you money huh? I'll ask him.

Inigo Montoya: He's dead. He can't talk.
Miracle Max: Whoo-hoo-hoo, look who knows so much. It just so happens that your friend here is only MOSTLY dead. There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive. With all dead, well, with all dead there's usually only one thing you can do.
Inigo Montoya: What's that?
Miracle Max: Go through his clothes and look for loose change. 

ok...moving on.)

Peamite Alpha cried out for me to take another picture. "Mommy! Take another picture of me in front of this bush in front of the big tree." So, here is Peamite Alpha in front of the freshly fallen tree.

 Peamite Alpha was watching the crew cut up the tree...

and load limbs into trucks...

when he noticed one of the prisoner's pants (They were clearing debris and loading limbs onto the trucks.)

"Daddy! I have candy cane pants, too!"

He was referring to a pair of his Christmas pajama pants.