October has arrived and with it the scarecows, pumpkins and skeletal decorations that bring the fun of the Halloween season into our fair town. Not only the children but many adults enjoy going around to have a look at what their clever or funny neighbors have come up with this time.Lately, however, we at Weird Nazareth have noticed some outdoor alterations whose nature seems uncertain. Beautifully growing trees around town have been hacked into grotesque and mutilated trunks with stunted branches allowed to protrude here and there, bereft of leaves that might soon have glowed with autumn color.
We can only assume that their owners or pruners are creating a new kind of Halloween art--the Horror Tree, in imitation of the dead and rotting trees we often see in horror films or Halloween art, often with ravens or vultures perched on what remains of their branches!
Or perhaps it's some kind of art fad, in which people express their existential angst through the form of the trees on their properties, giving voice to their horror at life's vicissitudes, deforming the trees as they feel their lives have been deformed beyond their control, as if Edvard Munch had pruned trees instead of painting The Scream.
Whatever the cause, we hope everyone will take time to observe these creations, for people have sacrificed their magnificent trees, rebelling against all rules of good pruning, in order to present you with these stunted and twisted roosts for the darker birds of the town.
[vultures in these photos added for effect]
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4 comments:
Since there are power lines in the photos, I think we can conclude that the horrible pruning job is the work of a contractor hired by PPL, Met Ed or some other utility to remove branches and limbs from the lines. They are notorious for doing a "hatchet-job" - leaving just these horrible stumps. Certainly no tree trimming experts on those crews.
I'm pretty sure that's not the case for at least one of those. Similar trees in nearby yards are not similarly pruned and this place does all of their trees like that every year just before the leaves turn. Look around town. A number of places have done this and it's not always near wires.
This is the work of tree trimmers, as opposed to arborists, who prune responsibly. This practice is extremely harmful to the trees, & actually increases the amount of pruning required in subsequent years because of the growth patterns it produces. Some towns do not allow this type of pruning along their streets because of safety concerns (branches & trunks hollow out from disease & insects). It's beyond my understanding why ANYONE would pay to have this done to their trees.
i'm trying to figure out which one of these is mine. just bought the house in Oct so i haven't studied it long.
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