The Saga of the Old Oak Tree.

When we bought 'The Pines' we knew that trees would cut out the sun in winter but we certainly did not know the full extent of it. As soon as we moved in, in the middle of winter, we realised that the old oak tree in our neighbour Anna's section took our sun for a few hours in the day, and there are only a few hours of sunshine a day here in winter.

I have called it 'the old oak tree' but really it was a youngster as far as real old oak trees go, but here trees grow very fast.At a funeral we met the man who planted it when he was a boy of six.

One particularly cold winter Elaine went to see Anna to asked if it was possible to trim the oak, but she would have none of it, as there were elves, fairies and hobgoblins living there.

The main problem was that it lost its leaves well into the winter and after that the sun was filtered through the many branches and twigs. Each winter I would scheme that maybe I could do the old oak tree some injury through injecting arsenic or roundup into her trunk but unfortunately my upbringing would not allow it. And so the old oak tree stood there mocking me. Beautiful and proud.

Then just last year Frank, another neighbour,who oversees the section for Anna, called to Elaine and asked if she had seen what had happened to the old tree. From the fork about two metres up, right to the ground the trunk had split.

Anna called in a tree surgeon and other experts but all concurred that nothing could be done. Well I suppose she blamed me. Thought maybe I had taken a chain saw to it. I felt guilty of course, believing that my ill will had brought on the problem and I began to fell sorry for the tree, and saw how beautiful it really was. Then I expect she asked one of the priestly elves to say the last rights. So the day came last Friday when three tree fellers arrived with chain saws, mulchers and a tractor to do their dastardly act.

Now after three days all is quiet, the old oak tree is no more,crushed and cut into small pieces, lying on the ground, to be burned as fire wood next winter.A tragic end indeed and hardly just reward for taking our sun.

As for the elves, fairies and hobgoblins, I'm not sure where they have gone, but there are many other places in the garden for them.