Trees: Root of Friendships

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DWELLINGS

Our house sits on an acre of land with lots of trees on the northern edge of Douglas County. My husband purchased the lot before we were married. We stumbled upon it on a Sunday drive and he fell in love. "Someday," he announced, "we're going to build a house here."

That got my attention. But I didn't believe him. He seemed like such a "city guy."

Turns out, he loves the nearly endless dirty work that goes with owning a house in the woods.

That first Christmas in our new home, after consulting with a friend who knows equipment, I gave hubby a Stihl chain saw. Best gift ever.

But not just for its utility. Kinship, friendships and neighborhood legends have poured from the cut of that saw.

My husband and our neighbor, Ben, became fast friends while clearing dead timber from our adjoining new lots. The first time they set fire to a burn pile, they abruptly met the neighbor lady up the street. She was staining her deck and didn't appreciate the ashes blowing in her direction. Oops. The lumberjacks now send courtesy e-alerts when burn permits have been secured.

Wind storms, oddly enough, have done the most to bring our little enclave together.

Last June, 96-mile-per-hour straight-line winds raised havoc with nearly 80 well-established neighborhood trees. The landscape had the look of a war zone. Within minutes of the storm's passing, the neighborhood chain saw brigade was on the street at work. But it was weeks of almost continuous shared effort before our yards looked civilized again.

My husband has spent early spring sizing up our trees. I know what's next. Chain saw season.

Happy living,

Chris Christen
Editor-in-Chief

P.S. One of our favorite neighbors, Richard "Dick" Shurts, died shortly before our May-June issue hit newsstands. He would have gotten a chuckle from this column, knowing that he was part of the chain saw brigade. Dick, who was retired, was the first one out on snowy days, clearing driveways so that the rest of us could get to work. His home was hardest hit last spring, when the wind storms came through. More than 15 of his trees came crashing down -- but not one hit his house.

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