"That three," she points at the tree I am standing underneath, "it has an awful lot of leaves."
I wait for sure she has more to announce. I nod and wait.
"Can't you cut it down."
The neighbour had it with my leaves in her garden. Leave the tree dares to drop because it's Autumn. It's clear wanting a house with garden is not what nature lovers only do. I think, I need time to think this over. The house I live in is rented, the tree came with it and it is not really in my way although, I have to admit giants like these do not belong between. I do not care about the leaves. I use them to fertilize the soil plus they are fun for my pets to play with. She waits.
"If you know how I look at it."
She clearly feels relieved and I go inside. How to cut down a tree? At the parking lots at behind our gardens are the same kind of giants. By now two fell down and missed my garden and shet by one centimeter. The city doesn't care neither does the owner of the house.
Because the neighbour doesn't entlight me I have a look at the site of the city. It's not allowed to cut down a tree without permission. Papers need to be filled out, photos of the tree and the area be send and I have to pay for it. I feel annoyed I need to pay for filling out papers and do the job myself. What will it cost to cut it down?
I e-mail three people to ask for the price. All three pay me a visit and two send their offer by e-mail. It's close to 1000 euros! Number three turns out to be a tree expert.
"I guess you don't have much money," he says.
I say nothing, what can I say? An offer is an offer and if I can not afford it there's no deal. I wonder why the neighbour didn't offer to take care of it or pay for it since she is the one who hates the tree.
"I make it 375 for you," he says, "but I can't do it for less."
The tree is his and he will do the job alone. How exactly he managed it I can't tell. The dentist waited for me.
Once back home he told me the tree nearly killed him. It broke into two parts. I assume he climbed into it, hung somewhere and fell with the part of the tree on him.
"That tree is not okay", he said, " I never thought that would happen and have a look at these".
He pointed at the bumps on the trunk.
"These are tumours, there is something here that causes it."
Radiation or? What exactly made this tree ill and what or who will catch it once this tree is gone. All the tumours are on the same side of the trunk. I look into the direction of a house. The house where a neighbour died of cancer. The only problem we have to deal with is a bad telephone connection.
"I'll figure it out but my guess is it's 'het Gelredome'.
He shows me the area on his laptop and indeed the Gelredome is the only location where a large collection of transmission towers can be found.
The next day he finishes the job. The wood he will take with him. Good for his investors and most likely his next lecture at the Agricultural University.
"It will be wet here," he says, "and if you kill a tree all the water and toxic it absorbed in its life will be set free too."
The tree is good for over 500 litres of water and the amount of toxic it set free I better not think about. Without this giant, the pollution increased immensely and I feel miserable about it.
The neighbour didn't thank me. After she made me cut the expensive Magnolia because the blossom made a mess in her garden, I killed an oak for her.
A few months later, at the start of a new year, permission to cut down a tree was no longer required.
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