Walking. And Ranting.

5:35 a.m. Clear. Cool. 39° F. I open the door, step out onto the front porch, and look out at the skyline. It’s as fresh as if it occurred 5 minutes ago, triggering disbelief and racing its way on to fury.

Yes, it could have been any number of topics that I came across in this morning’s paper. “When do we get to use guns?…How many elections are they going to steal before we kill these people?” Or, “…refusal to provide information to the House Committee investigating the Jan 6 attack on the Capitol. Or, “What abortion access looks like in Mississippi.” Or, “Rep Congressman shared a threatening voicemail he received following his vote to pass the $1.2T infrastructure bills…’I hope your f—- family dies…you f— piece of f—- s—. Traitor.”

This all would have been adequate kindling to light a raging fire. But, no. As worthy as these subjects are, they did not. Not at that moment.

And what’s the line from Tip O’Neil? ‘All Politics is local.”

No, this has nothing to do with politics. And everything to do with local. Like the neighborhood.

First, some table stakes.

There’s a large, sugar maple tree in our backyard. It’s home to a family of raccoons in its rotting center. Susan, Master of all things Home, has been on me to remove the tree. “It will fall on our house…It could kill someone.” Yes, it’s a giant, rotting tree. Yes, it is leaning treacherously towards the house. But no, it will not come down. It will not. Non-negotiable. Let it fall.

Now, back to the scene outside the front door.

Refer to picture up top. Our neighbor’s yard. Our neighbor’s giant Oak tree.

“How old is your tree?”

“Well, I’ve been told somewhere between 200 to 300 years old.”

“No!”

“Yes!”

She used to have three giant oaks in her yard. In the last major storm, a large branch from a now-gone sibling fell on her neighbor’s drive way. Neighbor threatens a lawsuit if the tree isn’t removed. That Tree, estimated to be 100+ years old, is felled. Gone.

Fast forward to last Tuesday. I’m working from home. I’m watching heavy equipment move in. Neighbor to the right of this neighbor has two arborists opine that their giant oak tree is diseased and rotting and should be removed.

So, after surviving blizzards, heat waves, hurricanes, below freezing temperatures, and all this over and over for over 100 years, it’s the Idiot Humans that slayed this beautiful 150+ year creature — its limbs fed into an industrial sized chipper, the gnashing of its large steel teeth, an endless migraine.

I’m sorry. But this is all Bullsh*t. Sickening.

Worried about falling tree branches? Or a few scratches on your car? Go live in NYC, bask in the sea of concrete.

But leave our damn trees alone!