On Nov 10, 8:49*am, Mike wrote:
My wife had been lamenting that our neighbor's pine tree had grown
such that every time she pulls out of her parking space in front of
our house, the pine drags over the top of her mini-van. *I have to
say, at this point, that we have great neighbors, but lawn/tree
maintenance is a very low priority for them. *They are friendly, the
father of the family is a great shade-tree mechanic and he fixed my
old cargo van several times, and they always stop by to chat with my
kids. *Anyway, about 20 years ago they planted their Christmas tree in
their yard, not far from the street. *It has grown unchecked since
then and now some limbs pretty significantly hangs over the street.
So we're cleaning out our basement Saturday morning and I see my limb
cutter tool and decide to walk over and trim the 4 or 5 skinny low-
hanging branches that scrape the top of our van as we drive away. *I
would ask them if they minded, but I know they'll never notice (and
yes, I know that that is hardly the point). *Anyway, the first skinny
branch I cut hits me on the head leaving me with a nice dose of pine
tree sap in my hair (I didn't realize this until a couple hours later
when I was brushing my hair, cheap shampoo is no match for tree sap, I
resorted to the scissors). *Then as I clip the last branch, I somehow
smash my right thumb between the wooden handles of the limb cutter. *I
wish I'd just left that tree alone!

Mike

Karma is not done yet.

You've opened a wound in the tree which will suck in a root eating
virus. The tree will die from the inside (you'll never notice it!) and
a big wind will blow it down on top of your wife's precious mini-van.

Don't worry, no one will be injured but you'll need to replace the
van. At the time it happens, the van will be of the age where the auto
insurance company will total it but not give you enough to replace it
with anything of the same quality. To supplement the funds available
to buy a decent van, you'll pocket the money your homeowner's
insurance will give you to clean up the tree and attempt to do the
clean up yourself.

Remember what happened to your hair and thumb when you used the limb
cutter? May I suggest that you *don't* use a chain saw to clean up the
fallen tree.

Sleep well.