Out for a Run

This week has been a very busy week at work for me.  Along with the work schedule has been the rain.  It began raining Monday and continued throughout this week.  At the end of my day on Thursday it had quit for a brief period of time.  When I came home my husband and I decided to get a run in before the rain started again.  We enjoy running together and hadn't been able to all week long.

We headed out on one of our favorite routes in an old neighborhood.  This run is one that the people that live in the neighborhood are use to seeing us.  People wave, dogs sniff at us warmly, some people call us by name.  "Hey guys!"  "Hi kids."  "Great to see you." "Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Hennessy." etc.  We have become a fixture in their everyday lives.

Today on our run as we passed one house and a man was standing in the street with a shirt wearing a shirt for a tree service.  We had never met but he must have thought we were part of the landscape.  He said, "Man, this tree is going to be tough to take out."  We stopped, turned, and looked up.  Sure enough there was a very tall thick tree without any buds.  He proceeded to tell us it had been hit by lightning.  It appeared to be standing alright but he said the bark was easy for him to remove and he could tell it hurt inside.  Then he commented on how it would be nice if a crane could come in but the electrical wires were to close. As we stood looking at the tree it seemed so majestic close between two homes and yes,  close to the wires.   He thought he might have to get 10-15 men to stand in a line and carry out pieces as it was cut down.  He continued saying he was worried about the danger to a man cutting it down.  Cottonwoods were dangerous trees.  The trunk was very thick and yet it could crack easily in the weak spots on the branches. He said more men lost their lives cutting down this type of tree.

I never want a tree cut down.  I imagine how long they must have stood there and I wonder what the land was like and how the houses and neighborhood grew around it.  And then I thought of the older woman that lived in the house with the cottonwood.  If it fell, it could do real damage to her home.  As we stood there with the man talking and me thinking about the demise of the tree, raindrops began to fall.  We stopped talking and went our ways.  We continued our run, and he got in his truck and drove off.  I love our runs for the exercise and for the opportunities to converse with those we meet along the way.