Tree trimming mystery in Westwood
I live in the Westwood neighborhood of West Seattle and absolutely love it! The people are friendly without being nosey, they walk a lot, they maintain their homes, and they are very pet-friendly, among other attributes. But Westwood apparently has a mystery tree trimmer in its midst.
On a recent walk with my dog, I was puzzled to see some small tree branches had been clipped off and left lying on the sidewalk. A few houses down, I saw the same thing. It seemed very strange that two homeowners would have done this same thing. I kept walking and soon discovered the same phenomenon repeated over and over again all the way from SW Thistle Street to SW Myrtle Street (approximately one mile)!
As I continued my walk around Westwood neighborhood, I saw that this mystery hacker had continued his self-appointed mission on several other streets in the neighborhood.
I can only assume that someone has taken it upon himself (yes, I’m choosing to brand this person as a male) to trim any branches that he perceives to be invading the public sidewalk! That’s a pretty gutsy move, if you ask me. I might feel differently if he picked up the clippings and hauled them away but, no, he just left them along the sidewalk for others to deal with.
A couple of days later, I saw a notice on a telephone poll, apparently written and posted by an irritated Westwood neighborhood resident, declaring this tree trimming to be a cowardly and despicable act. I tend to agree.
What do you think?
Can anyone identify this mystery hacker?
One thought on “Tree trimming mystery in Westwood”
The renegade tree trimmer is an older gentleman who takes daily morning walks around the neighborhood. He has white hair, stands about 6 feet tall and typically wears blue sweat pants and a flannel-print shirt. I can attest to him trimming tress he doesn’t own as I saw him wielding his clippers one Sunday morning as I was on my way to church. Several neighbors has posted signs instructing him to cease his irresponsible aborist ways, but I don’t think he heeds any advice. In addtion to some popular trees in the area he has attacked some rare shrubs/trees/plants.