Attack of Tree Pruner Part XXXII - "I Have Made of Huge Mistake"

Tree Pruning is one of the lesser known art forms. The Japanese excel at the Bonsai, (learned from Chinese penzai), while here in the U.S. it relates more to the pruning of Fruit Trees and vines to maximize fruit bearing potential. I don't own any fruit trees yet, but any tree can benefit from pruning. The hand driven pruning saw(s) I own are quite efficient, and I have downed limbs in excess of 7 inches in diameter in quick order. They have razor teeth that are shaped like a sharks tooth. They are sharp on 3 sides and only cut on the pull. It's with the larger of these saws that our story begins...

The weather was amazing on Sunday, and everyone was relaxing in the beautiful backyard. As I surveyed the garden, my eyes reminded me that a large branch from one of our silver maples was continuing its pattern of growing out over the garden. By the end of June, it would be shading far to much real veggie real estate. One simple cut would give our garden another hour or two of needed sunlight.

So I grabbed the extension ladder and my saw and got to work. First I made a cut on the bottom of the branch about a 1/2 inch deep where I wanted it to snap. The position of this cut was important, or I could take out our power lines. Then I got to work sawing through the beam on the top. As I cut, the weight of the branch pulled it downward, opening up the slice I was making. I began to hear popping and my audience sitting across the yard began to ooh and ah...

I was only a little over halfway through the beam, but with a little shove, I could see it starting to fall. I yelled a final all clear, and jumped off the ladder and grabbed onto the main trunk next to me as the branch began to fall. It's always good to stay clear. The branch dropped beautifully almost exactly where I wanted it! Awesome!!

Now came the not so fun part of cutting this beast up. And that's where the story turned not so fun as well. I had cut all the main limbs off the 8 inch beam except for one, and for some reason it was giving me a hard time. My saw kept binding, and I realized it was because my right arm was a bit tired. Being semi-ambidextrous, I without a thought switched to my left hand. That arm is stronger anyway, (I throw left, write right) but it lacks some dexterity. Well, I went back to cutting, but the groove I had made was for a right handed cut, so before long the saw jumped out of that groove and landed with a load of fury right on top of my hand...

Hmm.. This wasn't exactly what I had planned. I have just made a huge mistake.

I pulled the saw off my hand and started walking away from the scene of the crime, and from everyone else so I could ascertain how bad the damage was. I was amazed at first how slight the blood loss was, but I was not happy with being able to see my knuckle bone and tendons move around as I flexed the wound. I calmly asked Rachel to come over as I took off my shirt and wrapped it up so she and the kids couldn't see. I told her not to worry, but that I was going to need to go get some stitches. Meanwhile a pit was starting to form in my stomach, and I realized I needed to think about something else. Rachel went inside so I started helping the kids pile up the branches I had cut earlier. Nothing like work to take your mind off the pain.

Rachel returned with gauze, and some water and phone in hand. She insisted someone drive me to the ER, and I knew that would ease her mind so within minutes my good friend Jeremy was on his way. As I walked out the door I had my water bottle in hand. Jeremy told me in the car, he thought my fingers were in the bottle!! I laughed and showed him the wound, and that all my fingers were luckily in tact.

After my three hour tour, (insert Gilligans Island jingle) I was all stitched up. After I got home, I found my gloves (ding ding ding) and gingerly cut up the rest of the tree before retiring for the evening. It's still sore today, but it's slowly healing. The young doc noted to me that because of the saw's gnarly cutting action it will leave a scar. I told him that I guess that means my days of hand modeling are over...

Until Next Time...