Blast

But next to the weeping willow this silver maple was going to be a blast.Maple is the perfect cutting wood.I hung my pruner up on a sucker,snapped my saw onto a side ring,and with a quick release knot,attacked my pull line.Whoot-whoo! I was ready to go!

Flexible

[Thanks to Osquer for this One Word]In some trees,like the weeping willow,you have to be more flexible then you have to be in other trees.A weeping willow can wrap you up in her lover's embrace and then suddenly before you know it,you are all tangled up in her spell.Without warning:*snap* you had better be able to bend to her will.

Broke

To be a good tree trimmer,sometimes you have to take chances.You have to walk too far out on a limb.You have to cut off too much.You have to rope too close.It is what makes or breaks you.

Pane

I loved Buster Keaton.I marveled at the risks he took for his art...like the falling house scene,where the whole side of the house falls down around him-only to miss him because he is standing directly under the spot of an empty window pane.That bit of genius inspired me to do as much for my art-tree trimming.

Sketch

He tugged twice on my rope to let me know that everything was tied on.I started yanking the bobbing heavy equipment up to me.It always felt like an old black and white 'Buster Keaton' comedy sketch to me somehow.'watch the clumsy guy almost drop the funny tools on the bumbling man's head.'

Purple

Finally,Nikolas tied the pull rope onto my line.To distinguish between the two ropes,I had put green electrical tape on the end of my rope and Blue-now faded to purple-tape onto the other.

Locked

Nikolas crossed his arms and grabbed my climbing line with both hands.Then,by uncrossing his arms,he created two loops.He put these loops around the head of my pruner and pulled the ends tight.He had literally locked my pruner in place with a cloth hitch.

Blonde

I watched as Nik quickly primed my saw,turned it off and then tied it onto my rope.Though Nikolas had black hair,ever since the incident,I came to sometimes calling him 'James Blonde agent 008'.He would always reply,"You are what you ate."

Obscure

"It's funny,"Nik would comment later,"Once I knew it was there,it was all I could see.How could it have been so obscure?""Well,"I countered,"you only had it 'two years'!"

Insult

In fact,until that moment,he did not know his name was contained within the tribal markings of the tattoo."Don't take it as an insult,"I remember drunkenly stating,"I never saw it either."

Flushed

Yet for all his youth,vigor,and handsome good looks,Nikolas could be simple and shy around people of certain moods.I laughed,and still laugh at how flushed his face became the time Kat gracefully touched his tattoo and explained how absolutely wonderful she thought it was to have his own name spelled out on his own arm.

Tattoo

Nikolas ambled along at an easy gait carrying my tree saw,pole prunner and pull rope.He was 24, 6'2"tall,thin,but muscular with a dark golden tan.He wore a sleeveless,ripped to below his rib cage t-shirt.He had long black hair and a slightly
big,native American looking nose.He had a black tribal design tattoo wrapped
around his left forearm.And he was a happy lad.

Urgent

I heard someone else singing their own happy song,<"It's so gosh darn urgent,urgent,emergency,urgent,urgent,urgent,emergency.">It was Nikolas bringing me my equipment singing his own happy version of,"Hi-Ho."

Lift

<"Ain't getting old,ain't getting younger thoughJust getting used to the lay of the land.I ain't tongue-tied,just don't got nothin' to sayI'm proud to be livin' in the U.S.A.">,It was the little ditty I always sang joyously after I tied in.It never failed to lift my spirits

Punch

I tossed my rope over the main crotch and brought it through both of my 'D' rings.I tied two half hitches.I took the tail,and wrapped it around the other end of my climbing line twice under and then twice over.I only had to punch it through the hole,lean back and tighten it,and wallah-the taunt line hitch was tight and I was tied in.

Free

I still was not tied in,but the rope that had looped itself around the small branch had popped itself free.All the while,I marveled at the cloud face.It's right eye was a perfect circle.The left eye-winking brilliantly through the moving wisps of cloud vapor-was the sun.

Faces

But still,I looked up.The clouds were making faces at me.One was the most amazing I have ever seen.The face was in a couple of clouds floating together.The top,two eyes.The bottom the happinest of smiles.But that wasn't the most amazing part..My jaw dropped..it appeared to be winking at me;-)

Emptiness

The rest of the climb to the top of the sixty five foot silver maple was uneventful.I looked down.Yes,I was a long way up.But it did not bother me(anything over fifteen feet would probably kill me,anyway).It was the looking up at the vast emptiness of the endless sky that bothered me.

pushed

After my breather I set my self back to the task at hand.I wrapped my buckstrap around the left trunk,set my gaff,and pushed myself onward and upward.

Area

I scampered up the crotch.I felt most comfortable in it.As I caught my breath,I looked around,and smiled.This was a beautiful area.I felt exuberant,and glad to be alive.

Laugh

As I struggled up,my grasp began to give way.The bark ripped.I began to fall.Panic driven,I pushed myself higher with my muscular thigh.I had to laugh.I landed with my face directly in the crotch.

Drove

I drove my right spur in up even higher.As to taunt me,the two parts of the 'V' sprouted out wider at their bases.There would be no 'top' until I cleared it-only under.I took my gloves off and stuffed them in my belt.I grabbed hold(clawed) into the bark and heaved.

Sign

I took a deep heavy sigh to gain my courage.Maybe the rope wrapping around that small limb was a sign.I wasted what,five,ten minutes trying to do this the safe way?I replanted my left gaff,and unhooked my buckstrap:'Death or Glory'[becomes just another story].

Usual

It took the usual several throws for me to get the rope back through the crotch.But again,it looped around the small branch.This time,however,it wrapped around it so tightly that there was no getting it off.Damn it.I guess I was gonna have to free climb this bastard afterall!

Gone

After three more throws,the ball fell through the crotch and proceeded to wrap itself around a new growth tiny little twig.I whipped some extra rope up to it,once,twice,and it loosened and fell.Now,if I yanked it just right,it would clear the limb,but not the crotch.'YANK!"Zoooom-it was off the limb and it was gone.

Charged

Pussy!?!Guilty as charged.Here I was throwing my rope twenty feet in the air,just so I would be tied in(or,at least having 'something' wrapped around the tree,somewhere)even when I was wearing spurs!But who gave a shit.I know other guys would have just hiked themselves over this dangerous obstruction,but,damn it,I'm not falling for nobody.

Cross

The monkey ball hit off the left trunk and bounced away from the crotch.I watched it as it fell helplessly down past me."Damn,it,"I cursed in a cross tone.

Leg

I brought the rope between my legs,made a few small coils,and gave myself some slack.Positioning was everything.I would either make it on the first throw,or it would take forever.After three or four practice movements,I tossed it high-almost twenty feet-it sailed well over the crotch that I was aiming for.

Supply

My climbing line had an amply supply of length to do more then one job.I untied it from my 'D' ring.I folded the end of it over three or four times,and then quickly took a couple of wraps.I made a loop at the end,and pulled the contraption tightly through the hole.Now,I had a monkey ball to throw.

Commando

One of the main reasons I enjoyed tree trimming was the noise.The clanking of my equipment always made me feel like an army commando,or navy seal.This imaginary imagery also made me begin to think like one.I already had a stealthy plan on how to attack this tree.

Haste

The main trunk divided upwardly into two main sections,both almost as big as the first.Well,as I have always said,haste makes waste.Take the split second to do the job right.I sat back in my saddle and examined my options.