The Hickory Has to Go

It is always a sad day when it becomes necessary to take down a beautiful, old tree.  We had already lost the huge, hollow oak tree.  Now an old hickory tree was looming over the back of the cabin.  Hoping to keep it, it had been tagged during preliminary site excavation.  As the building has progressed, its close proximity made the root system stressed and was deemed a hazard.  Affixing a cable as high as possible with the forklift, the bulldozer pulled the tree parallel to the back of the cabin.  The roots were even more fragile than expected and the tall tree began falling sooner than anticipated.  Attempting to pull it away from the cabin, Billy Joe drove the dozer as quickly as possible, but the crack of the root ball breaking free was followed by the crash of the upper limbs hitting the master bedroom roof.  We now know how strong the design of the cabin is as only a few shingles were knocked loose.  One small limb punctured a hole into the roof, but that should be easily repaired.  It could have been so much worse.  The guys are making a large stack of cooking firewood. 

Salute the hickory and bring on the steaks!