January 11, 2010
The Stilt Tree
Date: ~ 1992
Location: Wyckoff, NJ
Description: Is this a floating tree? Did it ask the landscaper to just take “a little off the bottom?” Is it afraid of floods? Or is my dad just an odd duck? Really, arguments can be made for any of these, but the first three are exceptionally weak. This was a colossal pine that was growing in our side yard and consistently taking up more and more of our lawn. My dad decided to cut it, but to do that, he had to trim the bottom branches. And then the middle branches. And then the high middle branches. He decided that he liked his artistic butchery so much it stayed up for several weeks before finally succumbing to the chainsaw. This wouldn’t be the first time our yard got strange looks, as our abundant Christmas lights and mutant snowmen would also draw some stares for passers-by, the but this was the only time that a [nearly] naturally occuring phenomenon did it.