Dozer Day at Woodhaven

It’s official. Rob is going back to work!!

That is assuming, of course, that he can figure out how to get what he has now deemed The. Coolest. Job. EVER.

Last week we had our hill cleared. Those who have visited Woodhaven might remember how our backyard sort of drops off a cliff into a green, leafy, blackberried wilderness. Over the past three years, Rob has worked hard to try to keep the wild out of the wilderness. At first he had great fun playing with the machete. Lately, though, it’s been exhausting and seemingly pointless since blackberry bushes grow faster than a redneck’s pile of empties. Oh, and poison oak was starting to invade the blackberries at the top of the hill. This was beginning to cause some concern and making Woodhaven Jam impossible. We decided we needed professional help. We figured we had two choices: extensive therapy or Sven. Enter Sven. And Big Red.

Sven is 23. He is soft-spoken. He has nerves of steel. He operates Big Red. Therefore, Sven has The. Coolest. Job. EVER.

Big Red is a Big Piece of Equipment that is designed to decisively clear brush and blackberry bushes. Big Red is able to climb around on inclines up to 55 degrees. Big Red is able to literally vacuum up blackberry bushes and spit out mulch in the matter of seconds. Sven’s cab in Big Red has bullet-proof glass to protect him from all the rocks and logs that steadily fly around. Big Red has a warning painted on its side to stay back 300 feet; we’re not sure that’s really quite enough.

Sven and Big Red arrived at Woodhaven at about 8:00am. When they arrived, our hill was about 1.5 acres of steepness, rocks, trees, bushes, poison oak, and unknown terrain. By 3:00, it was about 1.5 acres of Very, Very Bareness.

At first it was enormously great fun to watch Big Red climb around our hill, sucking up blackberry bushes and toppling trees. We shook our heads and laughed in amazement as Big Red held onto the side of the hill like a climber on El Capitan. I held my breath any number of times when Sven and Big Red seemed to be at 45 degree angles two ways (up/down and sideways). We warned Sven about a metal cart someone had thrown – or lost – over the hill years ago. He seemed unconcerned. We later found the tailgate of the cart mangled like a piece of aluminum foil. Friends came over to watch. A number of grown men were visibly disappointed that they had to work that day. When Sven had to go into town to get more gasoline, we snuck around Big Red like little kids, opening the cab, looking at the controls, and taking pictures. By the end of the day, I had taken 118 photos and 20 videos.

As we sat on the patio, we could hear Big Red humming and mulching. We could smell blackberry and pine. We could see our valley view expanding. We were certain of our decision to clear the hill. But then…

Then, when it was all over, we looked. From the house and the yard, our view is now more open and that’s about it. Not too much has changed. It sort of looks like the edge of the hill got a little haircut. But down below, the hill got shaved to its scalp.

I still can’t really bear to look at it for very long. It reminds me of the aftermaths of fires and earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. It looks like a natural disaster hit. It is barren and brown. It is steeper than I thought. There are about 8 old large tree stumps we didn’t know were there. We found a stake and a fence marking our property lines. There’s another mini-cliff I didn’t know was there. Birds and deer and bunnies have been forced to hang out on our neighbors’ property. Three days later, I can still catch whiffs of blackberry and pine. I’m thinking I won’t be trotting down to the edge of the hill much for a while.

Several friends and Rob have assured me it will grow back. That indeed was the point after all. To keep focused on the future, we are plotting how to keep blackberry bushes more accessible for picking and jamming. We are discussing what trees and flowers we want to plant down there. This is making me feel better.

But then Rob, grunting like Tim “The Toolman” Taylor, started pondering whether his spiffy new mower can make it down the hill so he can cart new baby trees down there instead of carrying them by hand.

We might need that therapist after all.



P.S. More videos are posted on YouTube. Click here to go to my channel. I also have an online photo album. Via comment or email, let me know if you want a link.