Avocado Tree

In our front yard we had an old avocado tree. This tree was about 80 feet high and so old it produced avocado's that didn't taste very good. The problem with the tree is that when an avocado falls from 80 feet up, it's like a small bomb when it drops. One avocado fell and knocked the side mirror off of a truck that was parked under it. When O was outside playing I would make him put on his bike helmet cause I bet you would get a concussion from getting hit on the head with a rogue avocado.

The landlord decided it needed to be cut down and so the process started. No chainsaws, no power tools, no safety equipment or cherry picker type lifts - just good old fashioned hard work. About 10 guys showed up one day and proceeded to chop down the tree with machetes. But get this, they didn't chop the tree all the way down because in Rwanda it's against the law to chop down trees without replacing them. So now we have a toothpick in our front yard - it looks horrible but I guess its better than getting knocked unconscious or losing a mirror.

The work begins - see the rope? That's how they would lower the branches they cut down to the ground.

The first of many branches falls, successfully!

Check out our toothpick

Can you imagine cutting these branches down with a machete?