When Life Gives You Lemons or a 50-foot Oak

A large tree fell at the edge of our backyard.

It fell at the edge of the woods, so there was no damage to our house or fence or landscaping.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that I knew it would cost several hundred dollars to hire someone to saw it up and haul it away. I also knew that my wife wouldn’t like the idea of looking at a dead 50-foot oak tree rotting in our yard for the next 20 years.

Some of my friends would have tackled the job themselves. But I’m inexperienced with chain saws and didn’t want to start learning to use one now.

The solution came in the form of a local group that provides wood to people who need it to heat their homes. There are a few “wood ministry” groups in our area. They’re typically made up of good people who enjoy the exercise of splitting wood and delivering it to those in need.

I made a phone call and that was that. One weekend a crew of five or six guys made quick work of the tree. They cut the wood into woodstove sized pieces and took it to someone who needed it.

When life gives you lemons or a 50-foot oak, there may be a creative solution that doesn’t require shelling out your hard earned cash.

The cost to me was $0. The dead tree is gone. And the best part of all? Someone had a warm fire on a cold, dark night.

Feedback: Have a creative solution to an expensive problem? Tell us.