Not What I Call a Solution

This afternoon, the neighbors across the alley had a tree service chipper out there, presumably taking care of the big spruce or hemlock that toppled over in the windstorm last week.

I was just out there with my dog and decided to "inspect" the cleanup work.

And this is the sight that greeted my eyes:

What on earth--? Why would anyone do that for? They took them all down! Sliced through at fence level! Of all the--!?

So now we're left with a big hole against the sky where those trees used to be. And I'm trying to figure out why my former neighbors took such a drastic measure.

Is it because the house is empty, and they figured they should cut down all their evergreens because they can't keep an eye on the property? In that case, why shouldn't every absentee owner cut down every tree on their land?

Was it because they figured if one tree's roots were loose, the roots of all of them must be? How would they know? And that assumes we get big winds like that all the time. Hey, at that rate, if you go to the dentist to get one rotten tooth pulled, have him pull all your good ones as well!

But maybe I'm being hypocritical. I had one of my arbor vitaes cut down to make room for a rose bush in September, and now because another one of them has fallen down, I'm planning on taking out the third as well. Maybe I'm theorizing ahead of my data. Maybe they discovered all those trees were infested with the dread Herplelopolipsis sprucius mite and taking them down prevented it from spreading throughout western Pennsylvania!

But somehow I can't believe it. Somehow I think this was a case of "What the hell, might as well!" on the part of my former neighbor or as instigated by the tree chipping company.

I hope they take out those rampikes. They look creepy standing there, like dismembered bodies.

Well, damn. It's too late now, but in my not very humble opinion, they should have left those evergreens standing tall against the sky. What they did is not what I call a solution.