Editor’s Note: Many of the posts here raise difficult topics and may cause me and some reader’s discomfort. Last week’s post by A. Adar Ayira America at 250: Let America Be America Again or Hilary Howes Transitioning to Grace  was like that for me. I encourage you to read these posts it if you haven’t and think about what we each can do to advance justice for all in our nation. Share your comments here. Today’s post is lighter in nature. It is intended to remind us it is summer and to do things that we find fun and nurture our spirits.

I’ve always been fascinated by tree trimmers. As a boy, I watched with awe as they skillfully trimmed a high branch or took down a huge tree. My first career ambition was to be a guy high up in the tree with a hard hat on and a chain saw hanging from my belt. 

Play and fun have been mysterious to me for many years. Somehow the things I would do for play often ended up feeling like work. Playing little league baseball was supposed to be fun. But I found standing around waiting for a ball to come to right field or for my turn to bat was boring. As an introvert, things that involved a lot of people and were supposed to be fun were either painfully slow to endure or like watching fireworks in a crowded stadium scary. 

Now reading books was fun. And even more fun was/is going to a library and having my pick of thousands of books. Books that could fill my imagination and take me all over the world. 

Perhaps I had a notion that play was supposed to lead to pure joy. Sometimes it does like going down a slide with my two-year-old grandson or watching him take his first steps.  Other times there is some delight that comes and goes quickly like a sunset that brightly appears and then is gone behind a cloud. And if I am honest, sometimes the joy is in the distraction from taking myself too seriously. 

Watching tree trimmers always was and still is pure joy. Everything about it is exciting and entertaining. 

First there is the equipment. Big trucks pulling a tree grinder. Chain saws of all sizes, particularly the small one the lead trimmer carries up the tree and somehow uses to cut huge branches. And then there are the ropes – almost magical in how they keep workers safe and huge branches from hitting nearby buildings. 

To even the casual observer like me, there is obvious discipline and methodology to cutting trees. There are clearly assigned jobs and obvious attention to safety for the team. Being hit by a falling tree limb is not part of the plan. 

That’s why the guy in the tree and the rope guy are the most fascinating for me. 

I recently had the thrill of watching a tree removed near my home. Sadly the 75-year-old oak tree had rot that made it unstable. The tree was not salvageable. (Our 1600 unit cooperative has an arborist consultant who makes these decisions.) 

The tree being removed stood next to a multi-car garage and 120 feet from a busy street. 

I identify most with the lead guy up in the tree cutting limb by limb. He is an artist, standing on one branch, cutting another, then cutting the one he just stood on. All in some magical way that results in a naked tree that can be cut down in pieces in a way that does no harm. Amazing to watch!

My excitement peaked when he cut a huge branch hanging directly over the garages. I couldn’t imagine any way this branch would not end up on the roof. It didn’t. 

It didn’t because of the second most important worker – the rope man. He and the tree man with the saw develop a strategy for where to put the ropes and how to guide the falling branch away from the roof to the ground. They executed their plan perfectly as the branch swung quickly over and past the garage roof on to the ground. A joy-filled moment and a thumbs up exchange with the tree guy!

From a power and efficiency perspective, which I and many guys I know relish, the work on the ground is equally engaging. This crew had a new piece of technology I hadn’t seen before. There was an electronic feeder that allowed the ground guy to hook up a huge branch and the machine pulled the branch into the tree grinder. And then there is the hard to describe and unmistakable sound of the tree limb being ground up by the grinder. What a lovely sound!

For me, tree trimming is like any creative enterprise. It involves ideas, the disciplined use of tools, and skilled artists to execute. And no one becomes skilled without practice and a desire to learn. 

Lots of jobs are fun to watch being done. I have always loved everything about trees – climbing them, walking and running in the woods, riding in the logging truck with my uncle to deliver lumber. And admittedly, there is joy in watching power used skillfully to do something good.

What’s giving you joy this summer? Keep an eye out for tree trimmers. Hang out and watch for an hour or so. It’s fun!