I’ve been anxiously waiting to have a large tree removed from my backyard. Large, as in it would take at least three treehuggers to fully encircle the trunk.
I’m not getting rid of the tree because I don’t like it (I do), but because it is decaying and has developed a crack that could send a house-crushing branch down upon me.
The tree removal was set in motion when, for no apparent reason, a rather large branch fell into the yard a few months ago. Despite my love of plants, I don’t know much about trees. I do know, however, that a branch that size falling from several stories above the ground is no joke.
I reached out to my neighbor who works for a tree company. Chris pointed out to me the big cracks and decay, sure signs that the tree is dying — and an even surer sign that it needed to be removed ASAP.
(It’s never good to have a tree professional say, “I’m not trying to scare you, but…”)
He put the job in as an emergency, but it was still weeks before I could get on the schedule. Then, a few days before the tree was to go, they had to reschedule. Their crane had broken.
More delays, then, finally, things were definitely on for this morning.
A few guys from the tree service showed up. The rent-a-crane guy showed up, too, but with the wrong size crane. The “right” size crane wasn’t available, but the “wrong” crane is too small to reach over my house.
OVER MY HOUSE!
This afternoon, I got a package that I wasn’t expecting. A gift! What delightful timing!
Inside the box, I found two (!) new Nest thermostats. After a moment of wondering how on earth I could have accidentally purchased thermostats, I did a little digging.
Turns out, I was a victim of fraud. The fraudsters apparently used my credit card to buy not only thermostats, but also a few other items.
Credit cards canceled, fraud reports filed, tree rescheduled again…
But, it’s been a good day.
I went for a walk. It was one of those beautiful Florida days, sunny and warm, and I have the good fortune to be healthy and to have a job with the flexibility to take a break in the middle of the afternoon. Some of the trees are starting to flower, and I noticed some new things happening in the neighborhood.
I made progress on some projects.
My credit card issue is going to be OK. I caught the fraud quickly, because the fraudsters messed up.
The tree situation is going to be OK. They’ll come back on Tuesday, and by Wednesday I’ll be planning how to re-engineer my backyard now that I have a lot more space and sun.
I am going to be OK.
Not long ago, today’s events could have caused major stress for me. Instead, I chose to focus on the positive. I am healthy enough to go for a walk. The day was beautiful. The fraud is being investigated. I made some progress on things I wanted to do.
The thing that strikes me most is that it took so little effort on my part to keep from slipping into “oh-woe-is-me” mode. Little effort today, that is, because of the work I’ve been putting in over the past few years learning to be mindful, and understanding that everything is temporary — even that damn tree!
Yes, today was a good day.
