Goodbye to an old friend...written on 29 July

As I sit here hiding from the noise of sawing and chopping, I find myself really sad to see the huge tree in front of my house finally go.  This is the tree that has ushered in the changes of season for the 20+ years that I've lived here. Today it is being removed.


This tree, sycamore, I think, has been my friend for a long time. when I was recovering from back surgery and couldn't really get out of bed much, it was the tree that brought spring and summer into my bedroom.  When my parents came to visit one October many years ago, we swept up the autumn leaves that the tree shed. We did it together and I remember all of laughing at how many leaves this one tree had, no sooner had we cleared up one huge lot of leaves, than another huge amount would cover my tiny front garden.


And therein lies the problem - my tiny front garden and the tiny front gardens of our neighbours. The tree had just grown too big and was becoming a danger to our property. Undermining the foundations. So farewell old friend, you've seen me through good times and bad and I already miss the shade of your overhanging branches. I will not miss the leaves you drop every autumn that make a slippery mess and herald the arrival of winter, but I will miss the first sounds of birdsong outside my bedroom window every Spring. 


Thanks for all the blessings and farewell. If you can call a tree a friend, then you have been a stalwart one. Very sad today...