Magnitude

Saturday (of Memorial weekend) is declared a FAVORITE day of David. Some probing of that statement yields a peculiar reason, but one that makes sense in the context of him. The Saturday of Memorial Day weekend is Free Dump Day in the city of Thousand Oaks, meaning that any resident of the city can bring anything that they want to get rid of to the soccer fields (across from Janss Park - a park that I share a name with except for that extra S) and discard it between 8 am and 3 pm. The whole event is rather well-orchestrated as vehicles are routed in according to the nature of their load and then we are helped to off-load the trash...electical items in one bin, clothing in another truck, green waste over on the side of the field...you get the idea and it is all at no charge (you have to show ID to get through the gate). At any rate, the Newton clan has used this day as a catalyst to do some big project in or around the house for the last 10 years or so and this year was no exception.

We have a mulberry tree in our backyard that is magnificent, but admittedly overgrown thanks to missing a year or two (or five) of trimming. We decided that this tree would be our project this year and the three of us started out full of energy and resolve to get this tree in shape - David on large chainsaw cutting the limbs off, yours truly on small chainsaw cutting the limbs into 8-foot sections and Holly in charge of loading everything onto the trailer in anticipation of several trips down to the soccer fields. It started to drizzle a bit but we were not daunted; this family project was well underway and everyone embraced their role, proud of our collective skills to work together.

At 11:15 David emerged from the tree and asked to borrow my chainsaw. I handed it over to him, glad for the break and sent Holly in to get some water while I jumped up and down on the branches in the trailer to make some more space. After scratching myself up pretty well and drawing some blood on my leg, I decided that my job there was complete and went in through the one small opening that we had made in the tree to see how David was doing. As I stepped under the canopy of the tree, I noticed that the large chainsaw was stuck in a limb and we couldn't have been more than 1/8 of the way through the job...there was a complex web of branches, limbs and roots that I couldn't even really see where some parts that we already had cut stopped and the rest of the tree continued. I looked at David, we both laughed and I said, 'there's no way we are going to get this finished!' We had the tree service guys on the phone and over to our house within 30 minutes! I will be $1900 lighter in my checking account for it, but by Friday will have not only the Mulberry tree but the Pepper, Pine and Palm trees in the back trimmed appropriately.

My lesson in all of this - we may not always recognize the magnitude of what we take on but always need to be ready to call in the professionals when things get a little crazy, there's no shame in it and everyone will benefit!