Maples Trimmed

  It was a cold (35°) morning with a light snow falling but Joe's Tree Service arrived on schedule about  9:30 am to trim the two maples nearest the house. The one on the south side has a number of dead limbs. In fact, Dave Clopper (the tree service's owner) said the tree's heartwood looks dead and may have been hit by lightning at some point in the past. There was enough dead lumber up in that tree that I worried every time the wind blew. And when we pulled out of the driveway in our cars or walked beneath it when mowing, I was always careful to listen for any unusual rustle

 The other maple is at the northwest corner of the house and it shades the kitchen and holds a myriad of birdhouses and feeders. I've noticed the eastern side is drying and asked Dave to trim any suspect branches.

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 One of our security cameras watched the two trucks arrive. One is a bucket truck, the other a chipper/shredder. Dave immediately started trimming the south tree while a young man dragged branches to the chipper in the driveway.

 Dave then moved his boom truck to the garage apron and began trimming the tree by the kitchen.

 A bit later we heard a terrible crash and I found a limb had fallen and hit the north dining room window and shattered the storm window and slightly damaged the screen. Dave cleaned up the glass and said he'd take the frames to the hardware store, have them repaired and return with them soon.

 Here's how the maple by the driveway looks after trimming. I'm happy with the result and hope we can get a few more years out of it.