The Tale of the Trees

Our townhome is the very end unit at the back of the neighborhood. So, basically, we butt up to trees and trees and trees. That was one of the biggest selling features of the house for us...it's quiet and you have nature right next to it. :)

We've been in the house a year and a month and have really loved the treeline and the quiet that comes with living next to the woods.

Well that all ended this weekend when, save for a 6 foot deep strip of vegetation, the woods were all cut down. Starting at 7 am Saturday morning, we heard loud machinery right beside the house and saw that they were pulling down the trees!

Back story, we knew that someone had bought the adjacent land to build a series of "fancy garages" (garages for boats, expensive cars and other luxuries the rich people around us want but don't want to keep at their house) but we were assured there would be some of the trees left in between our house and the garages.

Well "some of the trees" equated to about an 6 foot deep swatch of vegetation and some trees. All of these gorgeous, old, HUGE pines and hardwoods were cut down. To add insult to injury, after they spend the entire day cutting down the trees, they proceeded to mulch most of them.

We can now see the entire lot and the road about 100 yards away. And it has honestly changed the appearance of our building upon approach. Once, dwarfed by gigantic trees, our house now sticks out and looks large and weird.

The beautiful trees are gone. I was almost sick to my stomach on Saturday as I listened to them being cut down. M told me to start thinking about some of the positives that could come out of this. "At least it's not a neighborhood going in that close," he said, This is true. That would mean children and loud people to contend with. Thankfully, we just have the occasional yuppie that goes to get their Porche Boxter or RV out of the garage. "At least you don't have to worry about watching Hewitt with the hawks and coyotes around," he said, This is also true. We have a gorgeous (albeit deadly) red-tailed hawk that lived in those trees and our neighbors have seen coyotes before so I was always on the lookout when Hewitt was outside at certain times of the day/night.

So, I guess there are some positives to this. I'm trying hard not to be really bummed about it. The proximity of the trees are one of the reasons we bought the house...and though we aren't staying here forever, it was certainly a great selling point. Now? Well, we have no idea how it's going to end up over there in that now empty lot. We'll just have to wait and see.

For now, I'm trying to be positive. And this is a start...

The heavy woods would have blocked this gorgeous sunset from view. So, now the thinned-out woods makes for a gorgeous photo opp. That's the one positive for now. Give me some time...