Convince me

{Home to squirrels.}

Ever since the tree limb fell on our house on March 9th, I've been worried about it happening again. Every time the wind blows over 5 mph, my stomach gets a big knot and my heart races. I obsessively check KYW's website for the week's weather, paying close attention to the wind speed. And if it's windy and rainy at night, I can't sleep. If I do happen to fall asleep, the minute I hear the wind whistle through the trees I'll wake up with my heart racing and then I can't fall back to sleep. I imagine horrible things happening to our house {and us}. My imagination takes over and I get myself all worked up. I don't feel safe in my own house.

Despite all that, I'm having a hard time convincing myself that BOTH trees need to come down. We have one in the front of the house {dangerously close} and one on the side {the damaged one}. The one on the side is coming down on Thursday {please, no high winds before then!} and the front one is supposed to get pruned that day. Honestly, though, I would feel so much safer if they both were gone. But…

{The view of the tree from the living room.}

Where will the squirrels go? We can see the front tree from our living room windows, and we often watch the squirrels go in and out of the hole in the tree {clue number one that the tree is not as healthy as it could be}. The tree has become a sort of landmark - when I'm directing someone to our house I tell them to look for the big tree. I've planted shade plants under it, as it shades our porch and much of the front of our home.

When I took these pictures, Malayna asked me what I was doing. I told her I was taking pictures of the tree, because when the tree guy comes he'll probably have to take it down. I told her that I'm sad that the tree won't be there anymore. But that the tree is very old and probably not very safe anymore. I said maybe we could plant some smaller trees and she said, "Yes! We could plant a chocolate tree. They're only this big." {She held up her hands to show me that chocolate trees are only about 12" tall.}

Even though the trees make me feel unsafe, I still want them here! I think of how weird the house will look without mature trees around. They attract birds and squirrels. The one in the front could also come down on our house. On our bedroom, to be exact.

Convince me that the tree needs to come down! I'm having a really hard time with it, as you can obviously see. I'm arguing with myself about whether or not to keep it. Help!

{By the way, I was watching the news this morning and they're calling for gusty thunderstorms on Saturday. Great.}