808. Flowering Cherry Lane

63 Replies

808blossom

Cain and Elliott bought a house together on a little no-exit road. The road was lined with flowering cherries, and was called Flowering Cherry Lane. Cain and Elliott called their new home Blossom Cottage. In Spring the road was a picture.

There were only three houses on the road. It was practically deserted. About two cars a day, from the homes, used the road. The cherry trees growing along the verge of the road, apart from providing beauty, gave Blossom Cottage a great deal of privacy.

But – oh! my goodness! – how dangerous! Someone had written to the newspaper and complained. They had gone for a walk and happened upon Flowering Cherry Lane. There was no foot-path! No pavement! No sidewalk! How dangerous is that? They had to walk along the side of the road.

The serious issue was solved. The Town Council had the cherry trees chopped down. A digger uprooted the unsightly stumps. A footpath was created.

Thank goodness common sense and safety prevailed over… over…

…prevailed over… over…

…life.

Flowering Cherry Lane! Such a pretty name for such a dull, no-exit street.

To listen to the story being read click HERE!

 

63 thoughts on “808. Flowering Cherry Lane”

        1. Bruce Goodman Post author

          The march (to cut them down) is being led by the neighbours, whose section has not a blade of grass out of place. They say the trees drop leaves on the road and it is unsightly!

          Like

          Reply ↓
            2. Cynthia Jobin

              Pauline…you have just reminded me of a horror show we experienced many years ago, with tree roots invading the main wastewater drain from our house….a large expense to have it dug up and replaced, not to mention the fact that the whole front looked like gravediggers had been preparing for multiple burials there…..

              Liked by 1 person

              Reply ↓
  4. Cynthia Jobin

    But of course common sense didn’t prevail at all! It’s easy, these days, for the PC crowd to win out in the name of “safety,” isn’t it?

    Here in Maine we are a bit backward; no one is prissy enough to have a lawn with no blade of grass out of place. There’s little auto traffic on my street and it’s lovely to see people strolling down the middle of the street…couples, children, dogs, and even a ninety-year-old woman out for her daily constitutional. I have an apple tree at the edge of my property and the town truck came by once to trim a bit so it wouldn’t interfere with utility wires, but so far, no threat of sidewalk installation.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply ↓
  5. Cynthia Jobin

    Politics as usual. Aha! It wouldn’t be the first time somebody poached my apples!
    I have noticed, too, that some people seem to have a strange vendetta against trees. Our first house in Boston had lovely trees, but when I drove by it, shortly after moving away, I noticed all the trees were cut down. There was one, in particular, on the northeast side that protected the building from the fierce winds of winter…..heh, heh, I chuckled, wait ’til they see how cold their living room is, and how high their heating bill…

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply ↓
    1. Bruce Goodman Post author

      A huge macrocarpa tree on the neighouring property of my sister’s place (she lives way in the country) blew down last week. Suddenly sunshine at breakfast in the kitchen! They had forgotten about it! But – it comes with wind!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply ↓
    2. thecontentedcrafter

      The council cut down some trees that grew along a sloping walkway into the park as there were some ‘health and safety concerns’ about trees and passing people…… Now the walkway is always wet from water that oozes from the underground stream the trees drank up. In winter the sloping path is covered with ice and I went upside down three times trying to skirt my way round it. Most recently the council had some workers there for three days ‘diverting’ the water from the path way. The pathway was wet this morning 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply ↓
      2. Cynthia Jobin

        One wonders just whose health and safety concerns hold sway. For no reason I can explain—except personal experience—there just are some people who seem to have a grudge against trees…..”they block the sun”, “the bugs can jump onto your roof from the trees” “they might succumb to a great wind and fall on the house” “they drop leaves all over the place, and you have to rake and rake…” Never mind that the trees also protect, cool in summer and shield in winter, allow children to climb and homes to be private, remove carbon dioxide from the air and give us oxygen, fruit, medicine, maple syrup, nuts 🙂 and inspire us with their reticence, longevity, symbolism and beauty…..

        Liked by 3 people

        Reply ↓
        2. thecontentedcrafter

          Apparently all the items mentioned in your last sentence are no longer relevant or necessary. Somewhere in the bowels of the Monsanto Scientific Research Institute dwells a team of dedicated scientists busily crossing toads with pink flamingos to produce the perfect peach, one that will never over ripen or go off. No need for peach trees when that’s on the market!! I heard a woman a while back who began by saying she was a keen gardener and then complained of the birds that sang at dawn and woke her up, the untidy habit of her deciduous trees and the bees that ‘went after’ her every time she ventured out were the reason she no longer grew flowers. 🙂 There’s not a lot one can say in the face of such profoundly arrogant stupidity – so I just gave her one of my famous looks and walked away. 🙂

          Liked by 3 people

          Reply ↓
    3. Outlier Babe

      Subsequent owners of one of my homes also cut down the strategically-planted shade trees which had already cut my indoor temperature significantly on high-heat days though not yet mature. I strongly suspect most people today under a certain age–let me pull an age out of my rear and say 35–are ignorant of the tremendous differences in heating and cooling bills that shade trees can make, or they have no concept of budgeting, and so do not care.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply ↓
  8. Outlier Babe

    I linked over to Cynthia’s limerick (thank you for that link, Bruce–worth the side trip : ), and ranted over there, so I’ll just say here that I’m so very sorry that some of the profoundly ignorant or ill members of our species will be adversely affecting your life at that address for the rest of your life at that address when your spirit is no longer lifted daily by the sight of those trees and the birdsong that they brought.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓
          1. Outlier Babe

            SO meant to cite that when I made that crack on Bruce’s post! That song makes me laugh every time, and even more so ever since an old chum sang it onstage while someone offstage tossed the occasional “dead” bird on.

            My favorite Lehrer is “Vatican Rag”.

            Liked by 2 people

            Reply ↓

Leave a reply to Bruce Goodman Cancel reply