bensrib: Lumberjacks R Us.

Since it's Saturday and not raining, Ben and Man-squared are out cutting trees. This time it's in our own backyard. We've had a dead tree out there that needed to come down, plus the one blocking it, and another that's keeping sun from the garden.

The first one was little and came down easily, but the dead one was bigger than I realized. For some reason, I always get nervous when I hear the chainsaw going and have to watch to make sure no one gets hurt and it doesn't fall on the house or deck, not that a tree ever has, which Ben is quick to remind me. Anyway, I heard the saw start up for the dead tree and stood watching. First Ben cuts a notch facing the direction he wants the tree to fall. Then he cuts into it from the back, and the tree falls toward the notch.

In theory.

(Hang on. The saw just started again. I need to go watch and worry. BRB)

(Everything's okay. See? Worrying really does help! Now back to our story.)

This time, however, it didn't quite go as planned, and the saw got bound in the tree. That means it stopped and the weight of the tree had it pinned in there. In case you're unsure about it, that's not a good thing. And it was sooooo close to going over, the tree had already started to lean a little.

So Man-squared got out the sledge and started beating on the tree trunk, trying to make it fall. That's when I sprang to life with my camera. (It's my number-one coping strategy.)