Where is a Lorax When You Need One?

 

So this happened last week.

Unbeknownst to us, the drain commission had scheduled a clearing of the woods along our property. They arrived with big crews and machinery and spent the week chopping down trees and shredding the undergrowth, all in an effort to "improve" the flow of the creek.

It would've been nice to know about this plan before all the machinery started driving into our yard. Such is the way of government, I guess.

The poor deer and birds and squirrels were pretty confused. 

The crew did not do the best job of cleaning up. There are logs laying on the ground, garbage strewn about, an abandoned pallet propped next to a tree, and piles of sticks everywhere. This will probably become our "summer project". Even though we don't own the woods, we do have to look at it, and right now it looks like an open wound.

Before:

And after, with a lot less undergrowth and fewer trees:

Sam was pretty upset with the whole process and wanted to chain himself to a tree in protest. Now he's thinking of making a life-size cutout of the Lorax and putting him in the woods. 😆

I told him that it looks terrible now, but in a year or two it will probably fill in, wildflowers and plants will return, and it may look a little more natural.

In the meantime, I have a plan to plant more trees and bushes along our property line. I'm thinking redbuds and forsythias. And this fall, I will find a couple hundred daffodil bulbs and plant them in the woods where the trees used to be.

And the deer? Well, they've left the woods and are eating in my garden now. 😠

It's Monday, and it's gray, and rain is coming and it's giving me a headache.

This looks like a job for coffee.