[Our World] Tree Trimming

Tree trimming is done for various reasons - safety, health or aesthetics.

Close to my home in a suburb in Manila there is a long boulevard lined with eucalyptus trees. I've noticed that once a year, the branches of these trees are completely hacked down and I've yet to learn the reason.

A few days ago, I captured these men at work and thought they'd make an interesting story for Our World Tuesday. It's a pity I missed seeing how the man got up into the tree.

Manila, 2011

First he attaches a rope to the branch that is about to be felled.

Then he hacks the branch with a machete, leaving what to me looks like a rather crude cut. And I see he wears no safety equipment of any kind.

But down it comes! The men on the ground ensure it doesn't hit the home.

And soon the boulevard will be entirely denuded of its shade-giving branches. You can see the trunk left standing on the left of the one being worked on. The first time I witnessed this I was pained.

Yet then I saw that within mere weeks, new healthy branches sprouted out, and before long, the boulevard was once more lush in green. I'm thinking that the tree trimming does make the tree stronger and healthier, despite the violence to its limbs.

Is there a moral to this story?

S is for Seamstress

Guangdong, 2010

Not haute couture, but an honest living. These seamstresses sit outside on the side of a little market from 9 am to 11 pm just about every day of the year, fixing whatever needs fixing, at night under the glare of the fluorescent lights. We've been their regular customers for some years now. When we need something taken in or hemmed the bill may come to a whopping Yuan 3 to 5 (45 - 75 US cents).

This links to ABC Wednesday where the letter of the week is of course S and to Sepia Scenes.