ellenr, if that happens to you again, all you have to do is change the title (subject part) a little the next time - like add a space or a period or something and you should be able to post without a problem. :)

I haven't had any problems posting.

I will "dump my cookies" too. I thought you were throwing up, how naive am I at times.......what I hate most is spending a lot of time dumping my thoughts into a reply and then losing it...because I really do DUMP my ideas too. It never works when I try to remember it the second go. I've gotta reload everything, maybe all those movies?

Some very sad stories due to trees. Near us two boys were sitting under at tree at their high school and were struck by lightning when it wasn't storming here. It can strike from very far away sometimes. I didn't used to take it seriously, but after hearing too many stories like these, I do now. They try to teach here, when you hear the roar, go indoors. (Thunder is the roar). We had a tree fall across the driveway due to a heavy snow load, leaving a 12 ft. trunk standing alone. It was still anchored in very well, so I let it stay for about 3 years thinking of woodpeckers and whatever other wildlife might use it, but I had it removed this spring because I didn't want the rest of it falling over the driveway someday, possibly at a bad time. nhl, your situation is so distressing to me. What are the consequences of removing the tree illegally? Would it be a fine? You were already going to be on the hook to buy five new trees. Would a qualified tree company do it, or will they refuse without permission? Being so close to your house you need someone who knows what they're doing. Besides all the current trouble for you, it's making it impossible if you ever want to sell your house, having to disclose problems like flooding and so on. I bet you wish lightning would hit that tree and kill it so you could finally get permission to take it down.