The remembering prectice110 thread.

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Chicago...!!!

Tom Waits - Chicago - YouTube

Matt would have totally loved this song!!! We used to listen to Tom Waits a lot...! And whenever he joked about the bad economic situation and the little but hard earned money he would be making with his tree business in the Greater Chicago area he mockingly said "Maybe things will get better in Chicago!" Of course we both knew things would never get better...but the love for his work kept him going! Tree guys are a special breed! You gotta love them! ;)

I secretly believe this song must have been written for him...! :heart:


CHICAGO

The seeds are planted here
But they won't grow
We won't have to say goodbye
If we all go
Maybe things will be better in Chicago
To leave all we've ever known
For a place we've never seen
Maybe things will be better in Chicago
Well It's braver to stay
Even braver to go
Wherever she goes I go
Maybe things will be better in Chicago

What we need the lord will give us
All we want we carry with us
You know where I can be found
Where the rainbow hits the ground
I'm not alone
I'm not afraid
This bird has flown from his cage
There's so much magic we have known
On this sapphire we call home
With my coat and my hat
I say goodbye to all that
Maybe things will be better in Chicago
Maybe things will be better in Chicago
 
Chicago...!!!

Joseph Arthur - Chicago live Old Town School of Folk Music Chicago, IL - YouTube


CHICAGO

You're my best friend
I need you until the end
No, you i will never betray

Don't run away from yourself
Or follow anyone else
No, you never have to be a slave

If they don't play you in chicago
Oh no no no
And if they don't save you when you're lonely
Only you
Could see your light, see your light, see your light, you
Could see your light, see your light, see

Your mirror is destroyed
I see you now trying to avoid
The truth of who you really are

The heat will stay with the flame
So your beauty never will change
To me you will always be a star

And if they don't play you in chicago
Oh no no no
And if they don't save you when you're lonely
Only you
Could see your light, see your light, see your light, you
Could see your light, see your light, see

Some turn lunatic
Others learn how to forget
This world to which they just don't belong

I wonder who you will be
A dream with no memory
A beggar looking for one magic song

And if they don't play you in chicago
Oh no no no
And if they don't save you when you're lonely
Only you
Could see your light, see your light, see your light, you
Could see your light, [see what i see] see your light, [see what i see] see your light, you
Could see your light, [see what i see] see your light, [see what i see] see your light, you
 
Matt told me he was born in Lake Forest, Illinois (don't think he lived there tho) which is a northern suburb of Chicago and his dad did a lot of work there and he worked for him. The Chicago Bears had their training camp there in Lake forest College. We talked quite a bit about that town on the phone.

I lived there when I was 15 to 16 years old and it was a very wealthy community and I remember huge estates and going to parties (prior to any drinking which is why I remember them so much) where we had to go through long tree lined driveways with gate houses with gate guards to huge mansions. Like anywhere else with money including where I live now, it was a very desirable place to work in but many tree services are going to try to work there and try to steal your top clients.

This is a little what it is like.

[video=youtube_share;7UzTgMJ1KCw]http://youtu.be/7UzTgMJ1KCw[/video]
 
I tip my hard hat this memorial day to veteran practice 110. In this war where we fight the dead, dying, diseased, disfigured, and hazardous trees in general.

Although this is not the case here
try to watch PBS Frontline series on towerclimbing.
Wake up call for newbies. God bless be safe
 
sadly, his battle was with alcohol, and the ensuing depression. :msp_unsure: Which has, can, and will take many a good man out.

And matt was basically born and raised in Crystal Lake, Illinois. A beautiful place. His dad was the MAN, and wrote the book on production removals cleaning up after the Dutch Elm fallout.

RIP matt THEW:cry:
 
I was bummed out for awhile this morning when I was thinking about a tree job and then it reminded me of Matt and then i thought about the fact that i cant talk to him any more.Then i got kinda mad.It kinda bothers me that i know of more tree men hurt or killed as a direct result of alcohol and or drugs than are injured by trees. and tree work is freakn dangerous! think about it. I also thought about the last time I talked to him. He called me cuz he drove past the sign for Cleveland Hopkins airport n figured he must be close to my house so he called. Nevermind that it was 5:45 AM! At first i thought "why is this knuckle head calling me" but I answered anyway. I am glad I did. he had me laughing so hard I had to go down in the basement so as not wake up my wife n kids. we were gonna meet up on his way back through. Damn shame it never happened. rest in peace Matt
 
I was bummed out for awhile this morning when I was thinking about a tree job and then it reminded me of Matt and then i thought about the fact that i cant talk to him any more.Then i got kinda mad.It kinda bothers me that i know of more tree men hurt or killed as a direct result of alcohol and or drugs than are injured by trees. and tree work is freakn dangerous! think about it. I also thought about the last time I talked to him. He called me cuz he drove past the sign for Cleveland Hopkins airport n figured he must be close to my house so he called. Nevermind that it was 5:45 AM! At first i thought "why is this knuckle head calling me" but I answered anyway. I am glad I did. he had me laughing so hard I had to go down in the basement so as not wake up my wife n kids. we were gonna meet up on his way back through. Damn shame it never happened. rest in peace Matt

I think he woulda quit if he just had some more time. Took me to past 40 to quit and he really wanted to quit. I think he liked to talk to me partly because I am a little like his old man but he could talk to me and not to him because of their relationship. Hell, my kid can't talk to me and he is a little younger than him. Just the nature of the beast. Same with me and my old man back in the day.

Also cause I actually quit and made it stick. Not an easy trick to pull off, esp. when you tried many times and you picture yourself as someone that can control situations. I kept telling him if you quit for a while things will get so much better (I promise) that it will become hard to start again and ruin it. Just gotta get that TI...time in.

One night we were talking and he was real upset because he got a call, I am thinking around a holiday, and he was too drunk to rig a huge emergency storm broken limb over a swimming pool for a real important regular client. I told him I was in his place many times. If it were me, I'd just be as safe as possible and get the butt tied off and get back to it on Mon. He was thrilled with this advice and did it. I can remember climbing when I was seeing 2 groundman's heads....didn't remember if I worked or it was a dream,...etc, etc.

Dave, he told me he was born in Lake Forest Hospital. Was likely living in Crystal Lake at the time?
 
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Thats the thing with depression, alcohol tricks your brain into thinking your happy but it makes it worse. When I was drinking I dealt with it, since I quit i dont get depressed at all. When I was drinking heavy my wife would have to wake me up because I would stop breathing when I would sleep on my back. I would wake up and remember taking deep breaths like I hadnt breathed for a while, it scared the crap out of my wife. My mind and body feel so much better!
 
Dave, he told me he was born in Lake Forest Hospital. Was likely living in Crystal Lake at the time?

Yes Dave, not really that far I guess. He thought real highly of you and had told me about those conversations.....So many things I wish for concerning that last day, I get real tore up sometimes thinking about it. several people that weekend failed him, and in a way so did I.

I have a pic of him I took that last morning, had to take it off my phone, real ####ing depressing. :(
 
Yes Dave, not really that far I guess. He thought real highly of you and had told me about those conversations.....So many things I wish for concerning that last day, I get real tore up sometimes thinking about it. several people that weekend failed him, and in a way so did I.

I have a pic of him I took that last morning, had to take it off my phone, real ####ing depressing. :(

Thanks for saying that. I really liked him alot and enjoyed talking with him. He was a very interesting and engaging guy. I miss him too.

You cannot take any blame or guilt for this Dave, it was way out of your control. He had to figure it out himself and given more time maybe would have. He thought the world of you.
 
blakes.jpg
:rock::frown:

:rock:
 
Thanks Dave. his passing is why I never went back to Chicago, I just walked away from 2 years of advertising and a decent biz environment.

on a lighter note, :hmm3grin2orange: Paul, you going to blakemasters wedding? I'm looking forward to it..... :cheers:
 
"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately,
to front only the essential facts of life,
and see if I could not learn what it had to teach,
and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."


Henry David Thoreau, Walden (1854)
 
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