Lee Ward: Leaning toward a move: 4/21/08

April 20, 2008 10:48 pm

— For about 100 years, an oak tree stood in my front yard. It sprang up long before the house did and the house stood there long before I arrived.
I have lived in that house for 10 years and I’m thinking I’m ready to leave it. I’d like to be closer to work so I can check on the dogs during the day. Also, the center of my social life has moved to Ashland and it would be nice if home were closer to that, too.
My house needs some work before it can be sold, including, I was told, the removal of my 100-year-old oak. Everyone told me it was dead and so large it created a hazard to the house. When the tree trimmer arrived, he agreed. “Not only is that one dead,” he said. “Those three are, too, and they’re very likely to fall.” They already were leaning toward what I call the doggie compound — the fence around the yard adjacent to the doggie door. It would be a disaster if those trees fell on the fence, making a place for the dogs to escape during the day while I’m at work. Who knows what would happen to my girls? Who knows what would happen to anyone who encountered my boy on the loose?
Despite the potential danger, I was reluctant to have the trees cut down. Money was no small part of my hesitancy. Not only did it cost a tremendous amount of money, but I didn’t want to have to spend that amount of money to have something taken away from me. I could have taken a cruise on that pile of dough.
Besides, any time I think about the trees coming down, I think how upset my husband would be. For years, he protected them all, but especially the old oak, from even being trimmed. Maybe that was a mistake on his part, but I understand why he did it. He believed in life no matter what its form — from the smallest field mouse to the tallest tree. If a shred of a houseplant was broken off, he never discarded it; he always started new life from that broken stem. Unlike me, he was sucessful at it.
Even though I knew the trees had to come down, there was a sad irony to the fact that his favorite old oak met its demise on the first anniversary of his death.
I have lived in that house for 10 years and I’m thinking I’m ready to leave it. Maybe parting with those trees, especially the 100-year-old oak, is a sign that I’m right.
LEE WARD can be reached at lward@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2661.