OH NO! Real Change is Here…

This edition of my blog site represents real change for us.  We did know that the end of our green and wooded neighborhood as we knew it was near but the sudden change was still both sad and ugly!

This was our view from our front porch just a few days ago… I took this photo just in the nick of time!

A truck and trailer had pulled up along the side of the road right next to the lot that is directly across the street from us… The second photo shows what had been unloaded from the trailer.  It was an instrument of destruction!

It didn’t take too long for two workers with chain saws and their tracked destroyer to rip down the woods.  They were very efficient and we were pretty depressed even though it had been expected.  

A couple of days later, 2 other workers appeared with a big shredder and a forklift.  In short order they wiped out the big stacks of limbs and brush…

In addition to huge piles of limbs and brush, the lot clearing crew also built up that huge pile of logs from the larger trees.  When they departed for the day, we checked out the pile and noted a plethora of ants running all over the place looking for a new home.  I put out some ant bait to insure they didn’t cross the road.

Here is a view of the home lot following the denuding of the property… I know that it is less expensive to build home on a completely cleared lot but it would be nice if a couple of trees could have been spared.

There were a lot of stumps still extant when the crew that cleared the lot departed.  So one day we looked out the window and saw a machine following its owner around, much like a dog following its master.  It turned out that this is a remote controlled stump grinder.  

Its owner simply guides it from stump to stump and it just chews them up.  He completed the task in no more than an hour.  We spoke to him and he said that the speed of operation combined with it being a one-man operation makes this tool a financial winner.  He told us that new, this Vermeer grinder, cost $87,000. 

What about all of those logs?  Just a couple of days following the stripping of the lot, another new contraption appeared that was equipped to deal with the remaining timber.  Again, it was a one man operation.  I’d seen plenty of log trucks over the years as well as log trucks with a fork lift attached to the back of the truck bed, but this built in crane for loading the logs was new to me.  The operator was very efficient and he completed his task in about an hour.  The only logs left were those that were hollowed out and rotten.

So much for that lot and the woods that sheltered us from the late afternoon sunshine.  On a positive note, at least for now, is the fact that there still are 2 wooded lots on the north side of our house and another wooded wedge shaped lot at the back of the house.  Who knows how long they’ll survive?  The ongoing rampant inflation with higher interest rates may slow down development for a while.   In fairness, I’d rather see inflation tamed and prices for just about everything brought back under control.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave