Guido's Last Hurrah--The Final Episode

[oldirty]

Dude,

I just landed some contract work over in southern NH. Maybe we can get together for some brewskees and tall tales. I got some stuff that's probably too over the edge for this forum.

count me in brother. southern NH is like 5 miles up the road from me. been in plenty of tree up that way. if the last hurrah is the tip of the iceberg, i gotta hear some more!

where you gonna be working?

 

[LTREES]

Thank you Maple, you bring us energy to let us know that we are alive. To what ever extent we may think we go, may we all know our limit. If not, enjoy and be bold.

LT...

 

[Mapleman]

I think TreeMDS said that. Funny tho, the first guy I ever worked for, the one who sent me up my first tree, would always say "what a good day to die" before going up. I asked him about it and it is a Native American expression. It is what they would say before going into battle. Didn't mean that they had a death wish but if they did go they were squared up with their maker and was not afraid to go.

Sorry for the mixup MD. It's funny you mentioned what you did, because it's one of my favorite expressions--"Today is a good day to die." I used to say the same thing before a really hairy job, but I thought it would be misinterpreted here as being a death wish. My tribe is the zen-druids, btw.

 

[Mapleman]

count me in brother. southern NH is like 5 miles up the road from me. been in plenty of tree up that way. if the last hurrah is the tip of the iceberg, i gotta hear some more!

where you gonna be working?

Somewhere in the Concord area, I think. I wouldn't say Guido is the tip of the iceberg. That dude was so heavy, he didn't float.

 

[Mapleman]

Thank you Maple, you bring us energy to let us know that we are alive. To what ever extent we may think we go, may we all know our limit. If not, enjoy and be bold.

LT...

Yeah, cheers. I'm just glad that I was finally able to get it all out. I've been hanging on to some of that stuff so long, I thought I was going to need therapy. Actually, writing about it is great therapy, as is hanging around in trees. I'm afraid I may go into withdrawls now that Guido has had his last hurrah. Hang on to yer topknot...

 

[TreeClimber57]

Thanks Mapleman.. great story.

 

[Happyjack]

Maple that was a really great Story. Thank you for taling the time to share it.

 

[Mapleman]

Thanks everybody for the feedback, now, and while I was cranking the story out. I've always believed that climbers are a special breed and that it is one of the most overlooked occupations.

Sebastian Junger (I think I got his name right) did tree work for a while in Glouchester, MA. I think I heard he was probably a groundie with climbing ambitions. Anyway, he wanted to write a book about the world's most dangerous occupations, and start if off with tree workers. Glouchester is home to one of the oldest fishing fleets in the US. And then the Andrea Dora went down at sea, so Sebastian wrote "The Perfect Storm" instead. That book about tree workers still needs to be written...problem is the publishing industry's profit margin factors into the equation. It would have to be written like "The Perfect Storm" with a really tight plot and character development, and less emphasis on the technical parts of the trade. One of my side reasons for writing a story here was to kind of probe that idea. But mainly I wanted to share stuff with my tribe, and truth be told, to reminisce a bit.

 

[John Ellison]

Yep, thanks for the story Mapleman. I'm not a climber, but I really enjoyed it.

 

[oldirty]

its gloucester.

i used to work there. did a little tree that hung out over a rock jetty.

some really nice houses and views out that way.

 

[tree md]

its gloucester.

i used to work there. did a little tree that hung out over a rock jetty.

some really nice houses and views out that way.

I used to go deep sea fishing there... And stop for clams at the roadside fish houses...

 

[Mapleman]

Yea gloucester--I think I screwed the name of the fishing boat up too.

I've been going to the Maine coast the last few years. I imagine the economy is as bad there as everywhere else, but I got to think there are places down east that are recession proof. I wouldn't mind working around Portland and scarfing crab cakes.

 

[jefflovstrom]

We all are tree guys

Saw that coming with the bag of blow and needing to go back up for a little more cutting, or needing to go down for a little whatever, Sorry for Guido, but this should of been titled "Complacency". I wonder how long after he would be alive if he changed his habits?
Jeff

 

[Tree Pig]

Maple you really should write that into a screenplay I would love to see that as a movie or series on tv.

 

[outofmytree]

Great story Mapleman, thanks for sharing.

I think you have a point with the technical side of our trade. I understood the skill required to vary your scarf cuts to get the logs to self stack but I doubt joe public will understand just how much finesse it takes. When you do something really well it looks easy......

My first instructor lost a good friend to HV and listening to him describe peeling the corpse of the line was enough to set me staright from the start. I give HV the respect it deserves and stay as far away as possible.

 

[Mapleman]

Great story Mapleman, thanks for sharing.

I think you have a point with the technical side of our trade. I understood the skill required to vary your scarf cuts to get the logs to self stack but I doubt joe public will understand just how much finesse it takes. When you do something really well it looks easy......

My first instructor lost a good friend to HV and listening to him describe peeling the corpse of the line was enough to set me staright from the start. I give HV the respect it deserves and stay as far away as possible.

I wish I had 10 bucks for every time a customer or bystander told me "That looks easy." Or "You made that look easy." That's part of the dilemna I guess--when you're really good and smooth, and there's no drama involved, most folks assume what we're doing is a "piece of cake."

 

[tree MDS]

I wish I had 10 bucks for every time a customer or bystander told me "That looks easy." Or "You made that look easy." That's part of the dilemna I guess--when you're really good and smooth, and there's no drama involved, most folks assume what we're doing is a "piece of cake."

Yep! And then theres the ground guys that start thinking your job is easy too.

BTW, thanks for the guido stories, good read. Guido reminds me of some of the climbers from "back in the day" when I first started with the trees, sadly I know three good treemen that all died of one thing or another but it usually went back to booze or drugs - two car crashes and one dude got murdered by his drug buddy/mechanic. All would have been fine if they just made it through the crazy years. Truely sad when I think about it now.

Hard drugs like coke have surely ruined many a good treeman, it seems old guido went the same path - poor bastard!

 

[Mapleman]

Maple you really should write that into a screenplay I would love to see that as a movie or series on tv.

Don't know how many of y'all watched "Dexter" on Showtime. The last season featured tree climbers in Miami. Fairly realistic portrayal--gear, lingo, work situations. I think they must have consulted with a real tree person. Only thing is--the climbing foreman turned out to be a serial killer. Maybe a series something like: "Desperate Tree Men" or "Who Wants to Marry a Tree Guy" might have a shot...

 

[Mapleman]

Saw that coming with the bag of blow and needing to go back up for a little more cutting, or needing to go down for a little whatever, Sorry for Guido, but this should of been titled "Complacency". I wonder how long after he would be alive if he changed his habits?
Jeff

Complacency--definitely enemy number one. We all have to have a little "swagger" to work heights and take down tons of wood with tools that can be unforgiving in a nano second. But when the swagger crosses over into cockiness, complacency becomes the Achilles heel of climbers.

My worse scenario was when I was humboldting out a large Monterrey pine from about 65 feet up, stacking all the pieces in a pile. My groundie said--"I think you should rope out that next piece." I said, "Watch this." Too much depth on the humboldt. Instead of hitting flat, the piece went another 3/4 turn, flipped several times, and banged into a foundation. A large, lightly supported window above where the piece hit imploded into the HO's living room. Fortunately, he was pretty cool with it.

 

[Mapleman]

Yep! And then theres the ground guys that start thinking your job is easy too.

BTW, thanks for the guido stories, good read. Guido reminds me of some of the climbers from "back in the day" when I first started with the trees, sadly I know three good treemen that all died of one thing or another but it usually went back to booze or drugs - two car crashes and one dude got murdered by his drug buddy/mechanic. All would have been fine if they just made it through the crazy years. Truely sad when I think about it now.

Hard drugs like coke have surely ruined many a good treeman, it seems old guido went the same path - poor bastard!

I've stuck a couple of groundies up in a black locust maybe forty feet or so and told 'em to have at it. Usually tempers out their enthusiasm a bit.

And as to the crazy years...glad I got into the biz later in life after my foray into the drug culture of the 60s. I've met many a good climber who I thought--"Wow, imagine if that guy didn't smoke cigs, snort and use drugs, or drink the hard stuff. He'd be an even better climber than he already is." Like you said MDS, really sad. It was even sadder for Geena selling Guido's gear at the flea market.