Victory Declared.

The trunk is out! The neighbor came over and showed me how to sharpen the ax on Father's old grinder. A sharp ax made a lot of difference. We took terms hacking at the last few bits of the root system and I continued digging around to undermine the trunk. With him pushing and me pulling, we were able to uncover what was still holding it in place. I held the trunk down and he hacked at the final roots. It took passes at three angles but finally I was able to collapse the trunk completely and break it free. He's in a little better shape than I am in terms of endurance but I can't stand the direct sun and had a had and jacket on since it was cloudy when I started this morning. I didn't need as much time to recover. I find myself taking routine breathing breaks for about 30 seconds so I don't get light-headed. That probably has to do more with my asthma history than overall health. I took pix and left a message at Brother's that I got it out. When he was getting ready to leave yesterday I told him, "Don't worry about it. I'll get it out." Without the neighbor's help it would've taken me several extra hours but he seemed glad to get the exercise which he said was more than he had had in years. He's definitely got a kind of "care giver" cabin fever. I know that mental state too well from when I couldn't leave the house in 2002 because Father could not be left alone at all.

I wish Mother were here to see the tree gone. She hated it and wanted it removed, certainly before the house sale. I did see the bird (a Monk's hood) she used to talk. It was on the fence today. Maybe it's keeping her up to date? I'm taking a breather and letting the sun get a bit further behind the peak of the house so I have a little shade to fill the hole and smooth the dirt out. After that I think I'll basically "call it a day" for out door efforts unless I get bored. I'm sure I can find something else to meddle around with. There's still a bird-of-paradise to trim back, for example.

Brother emailed to say he can't do the grocery run until at least Wednesday now instead of today or tomorrow. I've got food for several more days. I hope he gets that trunk cleaned of the gasoline. It's 2:30, I think I'll switch to short pants and have some Gatorade outside.