The Last Pear

Last night we had a little party at Kendrick Place to celebrate the life of our pear tree. It stood along the fence row between Kendrick Place and the Masonic Temple. We've long speculated how it came to be there. Who plants a pear tree in the middle of the city? My favorite explanation is that it's a remnant from the farmland that was here before the city expanded.

The tree had developed both blight and canker--and on the recommendation of the experts at Cortese Tree Specialists, who had tried in vain to save it, the decision was made to take it down. Here's how it looked in full bloom this spring. Pretty, isn't it?

I was too busy pouring pear bellinis for the party guests to take any photos last night, but when men with chain saws and a wood chipper arrived early this morning. I was ready. Here's the view from the bedroom window. That speck of blue up in the tree is the guy from Cortese whose job it was to climb the tree and start sawing off the top branches.

With the branches gone, you can see the guy a little more.

At the end of the courtyard, a big wood chipper waited.

All gone--except for the stump.

Heard the expression "rotten to the core"? That's a pretty good description of this tree's core, which they handed me as a souvenir.

Here's a close-up view of the core.

Speaking of souvenirs--some of us decided last night that we wanted a slice of the trunk. I am not exactly sure how we will use these, but the guys were nice about honoring our request. Here's one of the guys doing the slicing.

My neighbor Mary Holbrook, who joined me in witnessing the take-down, started stacking the slices.

Ultimately, we stacked them on our stoop--while we decide what to do with them. The rings were too indistinct for anyone to gauge the age of the trees, but we were told that when they are sanded a bit, we might be able to see the rings.

Here's the new view from the bedroom window. No pear tree.

There was one final surprise. A pear! This was a big surprise because there were very few pears this year

Now, back to thinking about what to do with the pear tree slices...Suggestions welcome!!!

A chain saw and wood chipper kind of morning. That's what we're having.