There are men in trees outside my window. Strapping young men, swinging from the branches in the rain, wielding chainsaws, systematically disposing of one of the macrocarpas at the corner of our driveway. One of the features I’ve always loved about our house is the presence of these four giant trees, sheltering us from the cold and strong southerlies. There used to be another tree directly south, but a former neighbour took that out about 15 years ago. Now the neighbours below us have decided to remove the tree at the corner. It was necessary, I will admit that. A huge branch extended out over the roof of their house, and especially the room their daughter occupies. They lived in fear that something might go wrong in one of Wellington’s storms. Not to mention that as the tree grew, it was starting to lift our concrete driveway, cantilevered out from the hill. It had to go. And so yesterday, today, and probably the rest of the week at least, I sit in my office, and listen to the high-pitched noise of the chainsaws and the great roar of the mulcher machine that chews these enormous branches, and I cringe as they drop, bit by bit, great logs of wood that must weigh a tonne on our poor little driveway, shaking the house, but hopefully not the driveway supports.
And so the view out my office window changes day by day. Though to be honest, it is the changed view through these windows (below) that I will notice more often. And I worry about the tui. Did they have nests in that tree? I do hope not.
The view from my bedroom
Our house and driveway, and my lovely trees, less some of the branches in the first photo. It is the tree on the far left that will soon disappear
And bit by bit, the tree comes down
Change can be good. But this makes me feel that too many things are changing at the moment. Little things, and big things, good things and bad things. Changing technology. The drought has broken, and autumn has chased summer away. Employment situations are changing, and that is scary. Elderly parents are deteriorating, and need more care. And we’re getting older too. So right now, my husband and I are forced into embracing the belief that change can be good. But it also brings some sadness at what we’re losing.
“All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy;
for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves;
we must die to one life before we can enter another.”
Anatole France
But I guess we have to heed the words of Bowie,
“Ch-ch-ch-changes,
turn and face the strange.
Ch-ch-ch-changes …”
Ah, yes. Change, not a word I have grown to love. Whether it is a force for good or bad, my jury is out, but one thing I do know, and know full well, change is inevitable. I love your tree metaphor. Xx
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Losing trees breaks my heart. I’m sad to lose the view (but often, not the roots, as you point out). I’m sad for the birds. Change is hard. And your house and view are so beautiful. I think I may have to live there for awhile.
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Actually, the roots are not a problem. In fact, I like to imagine they will help stop the hill slipping down in an earthquake. No, the roots are a good 2-3 metres under the driveway (half the house is below the driveway level).
As for coming to live here for a while – I’m sure we could arrange something! I’m a big fan of the idea of house swopping …
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I hate to see trees taken down…but it’s worse to see them fall down, I suppose. 😦 Sorry your view is changing in addition to all the other changes you’re experiencing.
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My goodness, you have a beautiful house & property!! I love trees… hate seeing them cut down. But we did hire a tree service last fall to take out a plum tree in our backyard that had been diseased & dead for quite a while. We also asked them to trim some of the branches on a couple of our our neighbour’s trees, which had gotten so big that they were scraping against the roof & the side of the house. I could see the damage the overhanging branches had done to the shingles on a little shed we have in our backyard, & didn’t want to have to repair the roof of the house (especially since we just had it redone less than 10 years ago).
Well, they did a very thorough job — much more so than I had expected. It was quite a shock to come home & see how bare it looked (& since the leaves had all just fallen off, it looked even more bare). It will be interesting to see what it all looks like once the leaves come out again. I was worried the neighbours would complain (although they did agree to give the company access to their property to do the trimming) but we’ve never heard a thing from them.
Change is hard. 😦 But sometimes it’s necessary and sometimes it just can’t be avoided.
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I’m sad to see your trees go but you may find a whole new perspective that you can enjoy. I guess that’s change.
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your house and its location look so lovely! What a beautiful place to live 🙂 Sometimes a change in view is good. I am sure the trees will be missed, but new perspectives will arise.
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