Tree trimming

When we bought the place we've come to call the ridge, it was essentially three acres of a farm field that had grown up as forest. It's an old New England story, and common throughout the area. That was 30 years ago, and though we had to remove a fair number of fairly large trees in order to build our abode, I tried to keep the clearing to a bare minimum and retain what I hoped was a functional wildlife habitat. The problem, of course, is that as the trees have grown taller and larger, they've become an increasing threat to the house, and while I hate to curb their enthusiasms, it's become necessary to do just that. At the very least, I needed to take down the limbs attempting to grow over the roof and through the upstairs windows. Since I'm way too old to do the requisite climbing—and I don't own a 60-foot-arm bucket—I opted to hire the pros. They were great fun to watch and work with, and while there's plenty more that could be done, I think we're in better shape for the upcoming hurricane season. There's also plenty of fresh wood to split and stack for next winter.