The Limb What Falled in the Swimming Pool

Last night while watching TV a loud bang came from the back yard. At first I thought someone fired a shot. Then I recalled the limb of the cypress grove leaning way out over the pool. It had been quite windy here Saturday and Sunday(yesterday). The wind had decreased quite a bit this evening so it was surprising the limb broke when it was so much less windy. Below are 3 before pictures.

 The top of the limb in the pool.

 The middle of the tree. Note rope running off to the left of the picture.

 The butt of the limb running back to the main grove. Not visible is the rope around the butt(about 5' from the end) to keep the limb from rolling down into the pool.

I determined to cut the end still attached to the tree first. My tool to do so was the electric 8' handle pole saw made by Remington. The picture below is the pole saw with a few of the cut up limb butts . This picture is out of order but it is the only one of the saw.

The first cut to be made was to top the limb and pull it out of the pool. As seen below.

 Pulling the top out allowed me to pull some more of the limb out of the pool but there was a problem limb as seen below. Not as substantial as the main limb but most of its top was in the pool and as I pulled it became lodged against the decorative rocks around the pool.

My solution was to get a third rope and tie it around the smaller limb anchoring the rope to a stump from a tree we knocked down last Labor Day Weekend.

Next I attempted to cut the middle portion containing the small limb away from the limb butt. I wanted to do as little damage as possible to Marcia's flower garden. The foliage and the angle of my cut presented problems.

Below is the middle portion pulled free from the smaller limb still attached to the limb butt.

Another picture showing the large middle portion pulled away from the pool.

The pole saw, again, probably a better picture of the tool. 

The winds deposited a lot of debris in the pool.  Center in the picture at the bottom of the deep end is one more small branch I will have to dive down and remove.  First I removed as much floating debris as possible. Then I did some patio cleaning followed by a couple hours of down time. Then I dove into the pool and retrieved the limb.  Today's high temp was 97. The pool water felt great.

This picture is the 3 different ropes I used to accomplish this project. They have their own story. Starting from the left is a multi-colored climbing rope left behind by Dameon, I believe. Next, the white one, is a rope purchased by me. And on the far right is a dark brown rope I inherited from my father.

Below is the top portion of the limb, delimbed, and ready to be bucked into firewood chunks.

And this is how I spent my day.

Dearest Marcia

Those of you who have followed Marcia's recovery odyssey may recognize this picture from her CaringBridge web site.  When I I first saw this picture it, essentially, frightened me.  I have never seen a picture of Marcia with her eyes speaking to me so volumesously.  I did not understand what she was saying but in hindsight I have some ideas.

The picture was taken while she was at Camp Noel Porter.  Camp Noel Porter is the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California summer camp program for children.  Doing one week stints over the summer with the various age groups was one of Marcia's favorite ministries.  As might be expected she was loved and brought various spiritual experences to the children.  The most enduring was her creation of the labyrinth walk in the Camp Noel Porter parking lot.  Almost every summer after the initial painting of the labyrinth walk she would insititute a repainting as the Tahoe winters were hard on the image.

This past summer Marcia was working with the teenagers.  One of their activities is to take a hike.  Marcia has always participated in camp activities and she and Lizzie went along on this hike.  She only went as far as her energy level would take her.  She took this self portrait while resting and waiting for the teen hikers to return to her.  I believe it was taken with her iPhone.

My first reaction was fear. I asked her when this picture was taken and she told me the above story as related in the preceding paragraph. 

Over 6 months has passed since I started the above entry and while going through iPhoto I came across the picture again and immediately saw the joy in her eyes. 

The first paragraph was written by a grief stricken husband. I still experience sadness when experiencing a memory, or someone else's grief or a picture, but the fear behind losing a loved one is more or less abated. I write no more about this picture. I have seen both sides now and its clouds illusions I recall.

I miss you Marcia.