Stumps

We had a tree service come this week to take care of a big old apple tree in our yard and several saplings that had grown up from seeds from that box elder down in the back corner.  Some of those saplings were 6 inches across at the base, and most of them were tucked in a line of spruce trees 3/4 of the way down the yard toward the railroad tracks.  So the tree guys came in and cut down all the saplings and the old apple tree, leaving stumps.

Yesterday I went around with orange paint and sprayed all the stumps so I could see them and avoid them with the lawn mower.  Today the tree guy came back and ground up the apple tree stump, and next week he'll come back and grind the rest of the stumps.

Because, you see, those saplings needed to be got out from the tree line.  They had overgrown the treeline, made it impossible to get the mower in under those spruces, and all kinds of weeds and other stuff had grown in around them (including poison ivy).  Now that those saplings are cleared out, it's easy enough to take care of the rest of the undergrowth.  Except, of course, that I have to avoid the stumps with the lawnmower until the tree guy comes back to get the stumps, too.

And that's just how it is with us, too, isn't it?  Whether you call them "sins" or "dysfunctional behaviors" or whatever else you want to call them, sometimes the little sins would be relatively easy to be rid of except that we let bigger sins take over.  Then, because we don't get rid of the bigger sins, we can't get rid of the little ones easily, either.  And if we don't get rid of the big ones completely, if we just cut them down, there are still the stumps, and we spend a lot of time and energy trying to avoid them.  Best thing to do is have somebody dig them out completely.

I suppose I could take a whack at it, but I'm sure it would be a long and ardous task for me and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't get the whole stump / sin.  I just need to get off my high horse and call the tree guy / the Tree Guy.