Reclaiming our view

Mother Nature is relentless: year by year, inch by inch, she has been taking away our view, as the trees down-mountain from us continue to grow.

Today Jimmy hired a tree cutter to give the foliage a little haircut, and we sat on the deck all afternoon, entranced, as he performed feats as death-defying as a Ringling Brothers trapeze artist.

He scaled tall trees , scampering up with his cleated boots and a chain saw strapped to his back as agilely as a young monkey. After pruning one tree, he'd throw a grappling hook to the next tree and swing to it like Tarzan.

He said you expend most of your energy climbing up and down the trees, so he conserves his strength by swinging from tree to tree. It's quite a show.