Now that I'm done with splitting wood for now, and the ground is thawing, I have returned my attention to tree stump removal. I got my first one out yesterday, and have two loosened, with their bases exposed to sunlight so the trapped lower parts can thaw out. It takes a bit of patience and self-control to remove tree stumps manually. You have to use a shovel to dig around each radial root as far as you are willing to go (not very far, in my case, as my ground is filled with tangled weeds, and I have no interest in loosening the soil anyway), chop the ends with an axe, and then pry the stump out. I've concluded the following things:
1) Don't be hasty. There's no point in trying to dig out the stump without making absolutely sure you have loosened or cut each and every root branch. Otherwise, you just end up tugging and whanging at the stump, sweat streaming down your face and cursing, "Why won't this $%&*ing thing come out??" Then you just have to go back to the shovel, find the one quarter-inch root (I'm not even joking; the tiniest root feels like a cement anchor!) that is halting your progress, and chop it. All the drama could have been spared had you cut every last root to begin with.
2) Don't swing an axe or shovel unless you can swing it with all the strength you need. There is no point whatsoever it taking a weak swing. If you need to take a break, take a break! If you need to quit for the day, quit for the day! A weak swing does nothing for you; it just wastes your strength and can actually be dangerous. You will. Not. Make. Progress. Without decent strength.
Point 2 made me wonder if it were a metaphor for life. Don't show up, I had been about to write here, if you can't give life your all, 100%. But then I realized that I didn't agree with that. Over 90% of my workdays, I do menial things and perform repetitive calculations that are NOT my finest work, but need to get done nevertheless. And that's still progress. When I'm tired and unmotivated and don't feel like coming to work, I come to work anyway, and guess what? I still get stuff done. As Barbara Kingsolver wrote in one of her essays, "Don't wait for the muse. She has a lousy work ethic. Writers just write."
So sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and not everything that happens while working your land is a metaphor for life, despite romantic notions urging you to the contrary.
4 comments:
Agree with the patience thing. One lesson I've been learning (slowly) while re-doing my backyard is that speed and impatience isn't a virtue when it comes to dealing with Mother Nature. Much like when dealing with human mothers when you really want something, you kind of have to whine a bit, try a few different angles, and wear her down a bit before you can have your way.
But exactly why you want to remove tree stumps? The gardeners all said to remove stumps only if you plan to plant at the same spot, otherwise, they are no harm.
Anyway, be very careful not to hurt your back.
Mudder: Because I tend to trip over them in the Winter when they are hidden by snow. I'm also thinking of putting in raised garden beds. Let there be peas on earth!
"Let there be peas on earth" :-) You are a funny girl.
BTW, they sell some solution in garden store to "inject" to the stump and it makes stumps easier to be removed. Suki's tree cutter told me before.
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