Christmas Lights

It has been years since we have bothered with a Christmas tree or lights.

When I was young, I enjoyed the Christmas tree and lights very much.  It was a chore, but an enjoyable chore, to set up the tree and lights and ornaments.  It was relaxing and pleasing to watch the lights.

Taking them down and storing them again was not much fun, but it seemed worth the effort.

However, as I have grown older and as the world has usurped the control of Christmas and has moved the season ever farther forward, even beyond Advent, even beyond Thanksgiving, and now beyond Reformation Day and the demonic Halloween, so as to extend time to promote the so-called Christmas spirit, the trees and lights and ornaments have lost their appeal for me, for us.  We just don’t have any desire for such things anymore.

For us it is like having someone steal our candy cane, roll it around on the ground, and then hand it back to us.

There are some truly marvelous displays of Christmas lights around town.  One is set up as a drive-through display available to the public every night.  It is very nicely done.  Much effort was expended in setting up the various parts of the display.  It takes 15 to 20 minutes to drive it and see it.  It is a very lovely display.

Yet when we saw it, it left us cold.  Yes, we found it to be bright and colorful.  Yes, we considered it to be very lovely.  Yet even with the cheery colors and lights it did not move us, neither did it cheer us.

But the Christ Mass does move us and cheer us.  It rescues us and brings us back again into the Communion of the Lord, who renews us and lifts our hearts from the worldly mire around us.  The Christ Mass officially is Christmas Day, but every offering of the Mass is the Christ Mass.  Every time that Christ’s Church gathers by the urging of the Holy Spirit so that the saints draw near to the Lord’s Table and receive His body of unity and blood of forgiveness and life, it is the Christ Mass.

This is the light that God has set on a hill for all to see.  It shines in a dark world of loneliness, despair, struggle, and confusion.

     Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.  (Matthew 5:14-16)

     Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man. For thou art the God of my strength: why dost thou cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles. Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.  (Psalm 43:1-5)

Often people quote these, and especially the first text, forgetting who it is who sets the city upon the hill.  It is the Lord who sets the city upon the hill.  It is the Lord who gives us the light of His Word that shines first in us and then through us for all to see.  It is the Lord who works the miracle of conversion in our hearts and engenders the faith to take root in us and to grow so that we hear His voice and follow Him in our daily sojourning.  It is the Lord who transforms our wills so that we stop seeking to be choice makers and begin instead to enjoy the freedom of His blessed commandments.  Then we seek not to make our own way through the darkness, because we walk in the light.  Then we are free to traverse our daily paths without fear of stumbling.  And even when our distracted hearts do cause us to stumble, the Lord continually calls us again to the regular reunion of His body at the Table of His forgiveness and renewal in His Communion.

It is disheartening to hear the many self-proclaimed representatives of the Lord preach to people how they must struggle to draw near to God.  After all, the Gospel teaches us that God took the struggle for us.  He came to us in our wretchedness, made Himself to be born of the virgin, suffered our troubles and sorrows, proclaimed forgiveness, established Baptism and the New Testament in His blood, suffered and died in our place with our sins in His own body, rose again in victory against the powers of sin, death, the world, our corrupt fleshly natures, and the devil, and ascended to heaven from whence He shall come again in glory.  All this God Himself did for us.  He took the struggle and completed it for us so that we would be free to live by grace through faith.  To insure that we would receive this purely as a gift, He established the life of the Church as the continual Communion in His body and blood, where He alone takes action, feeding us the very means of our salvation and renewal in His kingdom.

There is no struggle for those who desire to draw near to God.  He has come to us as Immanuel, which means, With Us God.  This is the name that His holy angel declared so that we would know God for who He is.  He is the one who makes Himself With Us God.  He promises that this is so through His means of grace, means which we do not do for ourselves, nor even in obedience to Him.  These are His means, His gifts, His acts on our behalf.  No one can baptize himself.  Each person must be baptized.  The water and Word are applied for us by another appointed for that task, and through this God pours out His Holy Spirit to the person and thereby converts and regenerates and justifies and sanctifies the person.  The person is made all over again to be a perfect and holy child of God, regenerated to the new life of the true faith.  This person then has been made to be part of God’s kingdom, His Church on earth, where the ongoing Communion is the new life enjoyed by those whom the Holy Spirit congregates.  Through the Holy Supper, God continues to draw near to His saints, doing what they cannot do for themselves, not even through their most earnest efforts.

Once upon a time, Christmas trees and lights were used and enjoyed as symbols of this.  The evergreen, as a symbol of the everlasting life made possible through the birth of Jesus, the Savior, or as the Paradise tree.  A very interesting and informative article on this subject can be viewed at O Christmas Tree: The Origin and Meaning of the Christmas Tree.  Another account is The Chronological History of the Christmas Tree.  Interestingly, some legends, such as is shared at The History of the Christmas Tree, claim:

Martin Luther began the decorating of trees to celebrate Christmas. In the year 1500, one crisp Christmas Eve, Martin was walking through snow-covered woods and was struck by the beauty of a group of small evergreens. Their branches dusted with snow shimmered in the moonlight. When he returned home, he set up a little fir tree indoors so he could share the story with his children. He decorated it with candles, which he lighted to simulate the reflections of the starlit heaven – the heaven that looked down over Bethlehem on the first Christmas Eve.

How Luther could have done this in 1500 for his children is hard to understand, since he was not married until 1525.  Nevertheless, the fact that this legend exists shows that people did consider this to be the symbolism that they were embracing with their own use of their Christmas trees and lights.

This type of symbolism is vastly missing in the general use of Christmas trees and lights today.  Sometimes the marketers still like to include “Christmas carols” in their selection of Muzak to help promote the spirit of giving and buying, but this is usually a mere appeal to people’s sense of tradition and nostalgia.  In fact, nostalgia is the primary focus of the usurped Christmas season: nostalgic decorations, nostalgic foods, nostalgic parades, nostalgic church services, nostalgic family gatherings, nostalgic gift giving.

For this reason, we find that we no longer have any real sense of desire to do this in our home and life.  We don’t have any desire for the candy cane that has been rolled in the dirt.  Certainly those who do find salutary use for these decorations we do not blaspheme.  But for ourselves, we simply find that our hearts are led farther and farther from these things so that our desire is the simply proclaimed and administered means of God’s grace within His holy family gathering, a.k.a., the Church.

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A Tiny Nature’s Haven

Last week I began working to prune an Amur maple that had grown as a multiple stem tree and had overgrown the area in which it had been planted.  The two secondary main stems needed to be removed, and it needed to be deadwooded and cleaned and headed back from the three walls and roof.  As I began approaching the tree I found a baby rabbit in the enclosed bed looking up at me from the foot of the trunk of the Amur maple.

Then, as I began working in the tree I discovered a robin and her nest in one of the boughs to be removed.  She was quite upset.  She squeaked loudly and continually, which is an odd sound for a robin.  Then she began swooping at my head, but without actually making contact.  I warned her not to do this as I did not want to hurt her and I did not want to knock her baby and unhatched egg to the ground.  The baby appeared to have been hatched that day, perhaps only hours earlier.  I kept telling her that I was aware of her nest and that I would be careful not to destroy it.  But she continued squeaking and squeaking.  I kept assuring her that I would not hurt her babies and that I would move her nest to a new and safe location in the tree and that if she is a good momma that she will return to care for her babies.

Finally I changed my tone from apologetic to a firm and direct address, saying, “Listen, I know that you can understand me as the Lord can make my words understood to you, so listen.  I will not hurt your babies.  I will move the nest to a safe location and if you are a good mamma, you will return to take care of them.”  After this she stood on the roof looking at me for a few moments and then flew away.  I was able to relocate the nest to a safe place in the remaining tree branches and she returned to care for her baby and egg.

As I worked on the ground removing the two secondary mains,  I was very much startled when a momma duck suddenly took flight as I was working.  Her nest was in the corner behind me.  After she flew off, making quite a startling flutter, I saw her nest with six or seven eggs.  I was careful as I felled and dragged the large branches so as not to disturb her nest, nor the robin’s nest.  Momma Duck also returned to her eggs after I finished working in that little alcove.

Both mommas returned to their precious ones shortly after I cleared my equipment and branches from the alcove.  I was still working in the same area of the yard when they returned.  Momma robin returned to her nest and sat overlooking the front lawn.  Momma Duck flew back, landed in the grass and paced a bit, looking over her shoulder at me for a few minutes, and then flew back to her nest.

Such little adventures add considerably to the time required to do my work, yet I receive a sense of satisfaction and joy when I am able to save the little families from destruction.  I have moved other nests in the past, too.  If at least one of the eggs has already hatched, the rate of success is much higher.  It also helps when the nest can be kept in the same tree.  But even when it must be moved to another tree, if the babies have hatched so that they make some noise, sometimes the momma finds them and resumes her motherly care for them.  This baby was so newly hatched that it did not even make any noises.  But Momma Robin did find her babies.

Anyway, I thought that I would share this little bit of joyous success that I enjoyed this past week.

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Save a Tree?

Have you received information from banks and credit card companies and other creditors urging you to “Save a Tree” by allowing them to cut you off from having your bills and statements mailed to you as actual physical documents? Have you been bombarded by the “Go Green” promoters?

Have you ever wondered why? Have you ever felt bewildered by the amount of paper that is wasted in mailings that promote this propaganda? If these companies and banks are so interested in saving trees, why do they send monthly and even weekly mailings trying to entice us to add yet another phone line or to supply answers to inane and often irrelevant questions on customer service surveys regarding customer service that does not actually exist?

What is the real agenda? What is the real motivation?

Have you figured this out yet? It is really very simple if a person has one’s eyes open to more than what is promoted in the propaganda.

But to the real point of this question, does not using paper truly save a tree?

This is a very different question than whether or not recycling is worthwhile. Conservation is not only a good and worthwhile idea, it is godly. It is the way of those who are grateful to God for His wonderful gifts. Making the best use of God’s gifts is the way of those who know God’s love and in turn love God and neighbor.

Sadly, though, very few people know what being a conservationist really means, just as most people really do not understand what being a conservative means.

I am an arborist as part of my vocation. I care for trees. I help people to maintain their trees and shrubs so as to have attractive, safe, and enjoyable properties. This involves pruning for safe and solid structure, pruning to remove disease, pruning for shape and appearance, and sometimes it involves removal of a tree or bush and sometimes also the stump. Some of the woody material can be saved for a lumbermill. Some can be saved for firewood. Some can be pelletized for wood burning stoves and for municipal power plants. (Yes, cities are purchasing pelletized tree waste for economical and environmentally friendly power sources.) Much of the tree and shrub debris can be chipped to be used as mulch. This is conservationism in practice.

This has developed into an enormous industry. For some examples, check out some of the issues of Tree Care Industry Magazine. It is amazing!

Regarding the “Saving a Tree” propaganda, I would like to provide a couple of links to articles that supply very helpful answers, real answers.

EarthAnswers - Are We Running Out of Trees?

How Are Trees Grown for Paper?

The second link is especially worthy of notice in this matter of “saving trees.” This is information that I grew up with. I learned these things from my father and from working with nature and from six years of FFA, and from my undergraduate studies in agricultural and biological sciences. But most people have the perception that has been promoted by the banking and credit industries for their own reasons. Most people receive the bombardment of circulars and catalogs and such and feel badly that “trees are being killed.” They are very surprised when I explain to them that the trees that are being used for paper are actually planted and raised for that very purpose and that if it were not for the paper industry, these trees likely would never be planted at all. Yes the paper and lumber industry, especially in North America, actually leads the way in preserving trees and forests!

I was very glad to find that TAPPI is working to supply this information. It is very helpful to be able to refer people to resources that verify these facts.

From their publication, “How Are Trees Grown for Paper?” here are a few very informative quotes:

How Are Trees Grown for Paper?

Trees are planted and grown specifically to make paper. Trees that are cut down for paper production do not come from our favorite park or wilderness area.

When some people hear about trees being cut for paper, they might think of their favorite oak in the backyard, neighborhood park or wilderness area being cut to pieces. They might think of birds, squirrels and other creatures being robbed of their homes.

The good news is that the production and use of paper are not causing forests to disappear.

The good news is that the production and use of paper are not causing forests to disappear.

Is this what is being taught by the propagandists who teach that allowing them to press us into utilizing electronic communication only is equal to Going Green?

Where do trees for making paper come from?

Most trees used for paper come from forests called managed timberlands. Even though the trees in these timberlands may look like “woods,” they are an agricultural crop - like vegetables on a farm. The trees are grown to be made into products for human use. Not using paper in order to save trees is like not eating salad in order to “save” vegetables.

In fact, many forests might not exist in the first place if trees weren’t planted and harvested by industry. It takes from 10 - 20 years for trees to grow until they are large enough for harvesting. During that time, those trees are part of a community of plants and animals, and their environment space is known as an ecosystem. Trees provide a place to live (or habitat) for many species of plants and animals, and they add oxygen to the earth’s atmosphere.

Isn’t this wonderful news? Why does the government not tell us this? Why does the media not tell us this? Why are we being pressed instead into surrendering our use of paper products to those who want to restrict our communications and especially our financial communications to electronic sources only?

Will we run out of trees if we continue to cut them down for paper?

No. More trees are planted every year than are cut down. This is due in most part to the success of managed timberlands. Whenever trees are harvested, more trees are planted to take their place. Timberlands can be managed to produce trees and forest products forever.

Trees are a renewable resource. As long as we manage timberland and plant trees to replace the ones cut down, trees will continue to grow and grow and grow.

In some ways, this process is similar to growing vegetables in a garden. We plant the vegetables and let them grow until they are mature enough to harvest. When harvest time comes, we collect the vegetables and eat them. Next spring, the process begins again when we plant a new crop. As long as we continue to plant and harvest, the process goes on and on.

More trees are destroyed by fire and insects than are cut down to make paper. And, on an average, when a tree is harvested for making paper, five more are planted in its place.

On an average, when a tree is harvested for making paper, five more are planted in its place!

Were you aware of this wonderful fact? How many people know that using paper products is equal to Going Green and helping to preserve our forests?

Moreover, as I mentioned above, some cities are turning to utilizing tree debris for producing power. This source of power, when used in these high efficiency power plants, is said to be cleaner than natural gas. While I have not checked sources on that fact, it is true that no new carbon dioxide is produced as it is with natural gas. What is produced from using the wood products is the same as would be through the decomposition process, except that electricity is produced for our enjoyment.

Some cities are going a step farther and are processing their trash in this way, thereby significantly reducing the use of landfills. By using sophisticated sorting equipment, much of what would otherwise go to the landfill is being utilized in the production of lower cost energy.

Why are we not hearing of every city doing this? Why do we not hear of the big power companies doing this?

Why do we hear ludicrous scare tactics regarding the dangers of methane production from livestock and humans? In the Seventies, when I was in highschool, my Ag. instructor informed us about a livestock producer who powered the entire operation and his home with power to spare, utilizing the methane produced on the farm. Why do the city sewage treatment plants not use their methane for power? Why is the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to a global tax and spend former vice president who travels the world in a plane that burns more fuel than most neighborhoods, when there are farmers who have been “saving the world” for decades through genuine innovation and conservation practices?

Isn’t it time for people to become tired of the lies that are designed to steal away people’s liberty while certain elitists are becoming wealthy far beyond filthy? Isn’t it time for people to awaken to the way that the globalist agenda of teaching evolution has blinded the populace to what godly stewardship is and where such understanding originates? Those who appreciate God’s creative genius and graciousness are naturally conservation minded. Those who do not appreciate God’s gracious activity in creation are not.

Consider these articles regarding the way that the Nobel Gore responds to his own climate propaganda;

Al Gore’s Energy Use,
How green is Al Gore's $9 million Montecito oceanfront villa?,
Al Gore's House ,
and then there is his Gulf Stream Jet, which you can Google or whatever for yourself.

If Mr. Gore and his hypocritical globalist elite friends were not seeking to dictate what the rest of the world is and is not allowed to do, there would be little cause for objection to their selfish and wasteful lifestyle. Well, there is of course their irresponsible and massive contribution to pollution and waste. But having large and expensive houses and luxury cars and planes for their personal use is not the problem. The problem is first that they do not want to allow anyone else to enjoy such benefits, and secondly that they are deliberately deceiving people and stealing the truth from us all. By this they are actually hindering the things that could have real benefit to us all. But they own the media. They own the resources. They own the Federal Reserve. Through it they own the government and military.

Through this they indoctrinate the children in the schools to accept their false doctrine and world view. Through this they persuade much of the population to “save a tree” while the elite burn the Constitution and even the people themselves.

What can we do?

First we need to realize that it is not in our power to save the world. We cannot save the country. We cannot save the trees. We cannot even save ourselves.

Realizing this changes our perspective from one of complaining and bickering and fighting and despair, to one of reliance upon the one who does have the power to save us and the trees and the country and the world. When we truly acknowledge Him, we begin to look to the things that He tells us that we can do. We can seek first His kingdom and His righteousness through the means through which He gives them. We can teach the truth to our children and loved ones. We can speak the truth in love to all who are willing to hear it. We can give thanks to God for His creation, for His recreation, for His redemption, for His mercy, for His love, for His grace, for His justification, for His sanctification, for His gifts of every kind. We can rejoice in His goodness and love, loving Him above all things and loving our neighbors as ourselves. We can gather for the blessings that He promises through His means of grace. We can live in peace in as much as it is ours to do. We can enjoy the life that God has given us and we can to the best of our ability utilize the gifts that God gives to us for the benefit of all. This we can do, until the day of the Lord’s Advent at the end of this age.

If everyone, or in fact, if even everyone who professes to be Christian, truly heard this and lived in this way, the world would be very different than it now is. After all, even Gore and Obama profess to be Christian. Wow, come to think of it, even Ted Kennedy claimed to be Christian. Just imagine if everyone who makes this claim actually believed it (and the one whom it confesses)!

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Interesting tidbits regarding “Conservative” Christianity

Save a tree?

Did you know that the original/traditional/liturgical use of the Christmas Tree includes making of the dead trunk the cross for Lententide?

Also, did you know that the Ashes for Ash Wednesday are made from the palm branches used in the previous year’s Palm Sunday celebration?

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Tree Work

The recent storms in the area have caused a flood of emergency calls over the last few weeks. One of the emergency tree jobs is the removal of an enormous willow that was damaged. One of the broken boughs had a bee hive inside. The bees were not happy, especially as I banged around their hive removing the large broken boughs, including the upper half of their hive. The weather has been very hot as well.

None of the local beekeepers wanted the hive. So, after roping it to the ground I dragged it by means of a rope into the wooded area where they would be of no harm to the people in the area. Amazingly I was not stung even once. I was very careful, but that does not explain that with a cloud of bees swarming about that I was not stung, not even once. Only one explanation fits. Thank you, Lord!

To access the tree I am entering the property through the fence, removing the one panel each day. An alley from the street to the fence measures approximately 90 yards. Thus, I am dragging branches and hauling logs about 100 yards each trip. I’ve been traversing that distance 20 or more times each day, meaning that I am dragging and hauling the debris and equipment and my body over a mile.

Yesterday I needed to climb to a crotch about 60 feet above the ground to rope and fell the double top pieces of about 20 feet. It was a hard climb, since I was not able to position my climbing line sufficiently high to accommodate the last three or four feet. That last three to four feet of bare trunk is amazingly hard without the benefit of the climbing line. Atop this narrowing stick, I roped and cut the top boughs. The second bough caused the top to sway about three feet, then allowing the top to snap back very hard, hitting my forearm with great force. About 15 minutes later, when I was back on the ground, I was able to apply a chunk of the ice from my water jug to help reduce the swelling.

Such is the routine of an arborist.

This, too, is a reminder of how God cares for us continually. The Lord kept me from more serious harm. The area of the top where it snapped back and struck me was sharp and jagged. It easily could have cut me. It could have broken my arm. But it did not. It merely bruised me deeply, leaving me hurting this morning.

How many times in a day is a person protected from harm? Is it even possible to know? Do we even attempt to account for the many ways that the Lord cares for us each day? Even the fact that the cells in our bodies continue to function properly is a miracle. The number of times that the Lord protects us from deleterious cellular mutations and invading organisms is incalculable.

Luther’s evening prayer serves as a wonderful summary and thanksgiving in this regard:

I thank Thee, my Heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Thy dear Son, that Thou hast graciously kept me this day, and I pray Thee to forgive me all my sins, where I have done wrong, and graciously keep me this night. For into Thy hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Thy holy angel be with me, that the Wicked Foe may have no power over me. Amen.

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Feed Me! Feed ME!

Here are some photos of some baby grackles that were in a nest in a tree that I pruned and cleaned earlier this year.

These little baby birds stand as an example of all of creation since the fall of man into sin. Since Adam chose to invent the notion of free will, which is nothing more than rebellion against God’s declared will, this is the way of the world. Me! ME! ME!!

These little baby birdies exemplify the selfishness that rules over us and over all of creation since that day that Adam decided that he could rise up for himself rather than trusting the goodness of the Lord.

They care not for their siblings. “Feed me!” “Feed ME!” “Feed ME!!” They each care only for self, jumping at the slightest vibration, striving to rise up above one another to be the one to receive the food that the parents carry to the nest.

Until the Holy Spirit intervenes, coming to us in our baptism to regenerate us from above, we are just like these little birdies. “Me. Me! ME!!”

Entirely contrary to what so-called naturalists and environmentalists and scientists try to convince us, this way is not at all natural. This is not the way that the Lord ordained for His creation. This is what man caused through his imaginary free will. Tempted by the devil to imagine that choosing for himself was better than trusting the good that the Lord had established and declared, Adam brought death and all of the unnatural daily consequences of death to the world. All of creation moans and groans under this burden.

Yet the Lord reacted in a way that is very foreign to our ways. He overturned the destruction that Adam imposed upon us. While the Lord most assuredly is angry over the sin that Adam chose for us, the way of death and destruction that the devil tricked the first two humans to accept and choose for themselves and all future generations, wrath is not the Lord’s primary reaction. His wrath is actually His secondary response.

His first and primary response is to look upon us with love and mercy. His wrath is displayed so that we may be made aware of what our rebellion causes. Much like a loving parent will spank a young child so as to steer their beloved child away from things that are harmful, so God uses His displays of wrath to make us aware that we need to hear Him and be restored by Him to the way of everlasting safety. Love is the true attitude of God toward us, even in His displays of wrath.

At the Last Day, those who have refused to hear and be turned will be sent away from God’s presence. Their belligerent choice to be separated from the Lord will be enacted fully. Since all of God’s loving acts to call them into His repentance were ignored and defied, they shall finally receive the wrath that has been stored up for the devil and all who follow him. They shall be sent off to the place where they will be confined together forever. Then they will bring upon themselves the fullness of what the Lord lovingly and mercifully limited during the present age. All of the evil that they hold in their hearts will become fully manifest and the terror that God has prevented, they will unleash on one another forevermore.

Yet these little birdies also display something of value. While they do display selfishness, nevertheless they also remind us of our absolute dependence upon our heavenly Father for all good things. While we should not be like the birdies in striving to rise up above one another but should trust that the Lord knows our needs and will provide for us fully in the appropriate time, yet we can learn from the birdies that we should indeed look up and cry out to the Lord for our every need. Such trust will never leave us disappointed.

Here is another photo, a photo of a tiny little bunny that scooted in front of me where I park my work truck. (Click photo for larger view.)

This little bunny was almost 4 inches long. It had not yet learned to hop but simply scurried as quickly as its little bitty legs would carry it. This little one also reminds us of our dependence upon the Lord. We are just little babes who need His continual care. He treasures us and wants good things for us. When we look to Him in faith, we see this.

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Its Windy, but You’re Still in Kansas!

Kansas is a very windy state, especially now. Growing up in Florida, winds like we have in Kansas would have been counted as the coming of a terrible storm. But in Kansas, its just another windy day.

Yesterday the wind blew over our wooden fence, which I spent the evening erecting again. My mother-in-law’s car was smashed by a handicap sign that blew over onto it. Customers called regarding trees that were broken in half. Returning homeward after examining one of these shattered trees I saw a large billboard type sign that was blown over in a parking lot, smashing the little sports car that had been parked next to it.

But that’s Kansas and so far, we’re still here.

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Stump Grinding

Tree work can be grueling work. Climbing, lifting, dragging limbs, chipping limbs and debris, and grinding stumps, all are hard physical activities. But there is also beauty to much of the work and especially when the job is complete.

Here is a photograph of an Osage stump showing the beauty of the wood and the extensive spreading of the roots. One stump that I recently ground had a root almost as big around as I am that I chased for over six feet.

The following series of pictures shows how deeply the stumps and roots sometimes grow and how much grinding is involved in removing the entire stump and root structure.

And of course, the completed project.

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Brush Bandit Chipper

This video demonstrates the model of chipper that I use in my tree business, Model 250. The chippers in this video are newer and have larger engines than mine, but operate the same and with the same capacity, up to 12 inch diameter logs.


As can be seen in this video, these machines are designed for safety, but are nevertheless very dangerous. A twisted log, like the one in this video can sometimes move from one side to the other very rapidly. If standing in that area, it packs an horrendous wallop. On a few occasions I have been knocked across a sidewalk on the one side and part way across a street on the other side. The new models are easier to feed from the sides where this is less likely to happen.

For what it is worth, I thought that I would share this video, showing one piece of equipment commonly used by arborists.