Two thing are going to happen here that I feel REALLY BAD about - things about to be done in the name of progress that make me feel like a murderer and a heel.

1. Cutting down another elm. No, that's not the thing, who cares about the bloody elm! While Eric the Tree Guy was 30 feet up beginning his exercise in slow-mo toppling he unsuspectingly cut into a honeybee hive. The bees swarmed and brought the work to an abrupt halt. He and his partner, Joe, worked for a couple of weeks trying to figure out a way to save the bees and transplant them but after talking to Carol Sutherland, Extension Etymologist, they decided it was too risky (to themselves and their crew) to try and save a hive from 30 feet up plus the hive would probably die during the process anyways. I suggested we leave the tree where it is, even though it's part-way cut down. But that too is risky as the tree is severely compromised. So the hive had to be poisoned. Argh! Eric and Joe feel really bad about it too. It is painful to see bee corpses all over the driveway.

2. Lilac in the way. A big lilac bush, which happens to be in full bloom right now, is in the way of the new guest house which is going to be several feet to the east from where the old one is. So we have to remove it. Again, Argh! Because of all the rain we got last year and maybe because of the pruning I did, this thing is blooming out of control and smells so sweet. I feel rightly punished by its beauty.

I'm so sorry, little bees and beautiful lilac. Humans can really suck sometimes.