When looking at this picture of a tree being pruned one might think this home shelters a hardworking "teenager" motivated and willing to help out to earn his keep. The real story behind the hacked up tree goes like this...I have been trying to give the teenager, the newest driver, who has been incredibly blessed with accommodating parents who allow him to operate one of their most efficient vehicles, without incurring any cost of his own, living rent free, with no food bill, in our home a little more freedom and allow him to make some decisions on his own so that he will continue to grow and develop.
So I planted the idea that the lawn needed to be mowed, then I suggested it be done by a certain day (last week), and tried to lay back and let him do this particular chore on his own time, I was sure he would step up and get it done without me having to prod too long. After all he was living rent free, eating our food, driving our car without incurring any cost. Surely he would step up to help out around the house... surely!
The next day I reminded.... then I jogged his memory.
The following day I prompted again...... and gave him a brief recap of what was expected.
The next day I had to lay down the law.... the lawn had to be mowed, and it had to be done by the end of the day!
So much for trying to let the kid take some responsibility on his own, and do some things in his own time.
So, with attitude in full swing, he went out to mow the lawn.
I was busy working on some chores in the house, and after about 15 or 20 minutes I bee-bopped outside to take a bag of trash to the big outside garbage can.
I see "the teenager" under the tree in the front yard, but I could only see from about his knees down as the tree branches full of huge leaves hang really low... and I hear a sawing noise, I realized it was not that of a lawn mower. And then notice 4 or 5 huge limbs from the tree laying on the ground underneath it!
I yell out for him to stop! I yell his name, loud enough to be heard in Beijing... still he continues to saw... I run out to him bending under the tree, to find him sawing to the beat of what ever music was thumping on his ipod! I stop him, and I get this look as he pulls the ear plugs from his ears... like what do you want lady?
In a complete panicking rage, I ask what the heck is he doing?
He huffs out an explanation that he can't mow the lawn without racking his 6'2" reaching noggin' on the tree branches, so he is cutting them down! Like he can't believe I wouldn't be anything but happy about this, what was my problem??
So trying to calm down, I explain (with no real logic or scientific knowledge, only personal experience from killing a tree in my recent past from trying to trim it into a bonsai... another story for another day) that trees don't like to be cut at certain times of the year. And this would be one of those times, and if he continued... I was certain it would die!!
And while I begin to offer this explanation, I see the stumps sticking straight out at me, I add... and didn't it dawn on you that there might be some kind of specific technique other than just grabbing a saw and hacking away...
While I look down at our feet and see the huge branches covering the base of the tree, and add... and what were you thinking you might do with all the debris you were creating when we don't have a pick up or any means to haul them off with?
(all said with that motherly, stretching to be calm, but in reality hysterical, guilt casting voice)
Well to make a really long story short... after some time and many words trying to see eye to eye on the entire deal (of which we never did) we were able to kiss and make up. The teenager cut up some of the big branches and they made it into the garbage can and his new weekly chore is to saw up each limb and fit as much into a weekly garbage run without filling up our can so we can't fit garbage into it until it's all gone from stack on the side of our house. And he got the lawn mowed (even under rest of the low tree limbs... its a miracle) all before his father came home.
Of course the tree didn't go unnoticed by his father, but apparently he was much less worried about a dead tree in the front of our house than I was.... so it was all good.
I was reminded of when he was 4 years old and a friend told me as he was trying to climb to the top of an old willow tree in our yard... while I was panicking trying to stop him. She told me to let him climb, at 4 he would know his limits and only climb as far as he was comfortable... he might fall and break his arm, maybe. But if I kept him from climbing at all, he might then one day be a teenager and had never climbed a tree and be pressured into climbing a tree by his peers and he will be doing it out of pressure without any experience or past knowledge and potentially get hurt much worse than a small broken bone.
If I had only known back then he would not be facinated with tree climbing, but rather hacking them down...
I have so much to learn about being a good mother... 16 years just hasn't been enough, and I am certain he can't get me trained in the next 2-3 years either... he needs much more time... you gotta love him! He is a great kid, he gives me heart attacks and hives and grey hair on a daily basis, but I wouldn't have it any other way!!
And her diploma... although there was a stipulation put out there before they were handed out.
Taylor wasn't the only dog who bolted and went nuts at graduation. Sasha the boxer sat out the last half of class after finally being caught... but she just circled the other dogs, she didn't actually go to the other side of the park and go swimming, Taylor held the record of the 4-5 dogs who bolted from their owners for distance and speed.
It was a crazy night for uncharacteristic behavior, but like I said the wind does crazy things to dogs in obedience class.
Here they are (notice on leash) with her cap and diploma.
He finally found a way to forgiver her in his heart!
I couldn't resist... some of the dogs looked really cute in their caps and wore them well.
Others ate their hats...
