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LETTER: Neighbours bond in hatred over tree that finally fell down

Dear editor: On Tuesday night my wife and I were cooking dinner when I heard a loud crunching sound.
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Dear editor:

On Tuesday night my wife and I were cooking dinner when I heard a loud crunching sound.

The next thing that I noticed was a neighbour across the street and I could tell by her body language that something was amiss so I went out to investigate.

A huge linden tree had unceremoniously fallen across the road adjacent to our house. Fortunately, no one was in its path as it fell, and although its branches were literally touching my neighbour’s vehicle there was no property damage. It could have been a very different story!

Our street is the main feeder for individuals and families walking up a lit path through the forest from Deep Cove and it teems with people as a result. On this night tragedy was averted.

One of the phenomenon that inevitably emerges from disaster or near disaster in this case is the social bonding that seems to spontaneously manifest itself. Neighbours walk to the site and an animated discussion ensues, in this case around a tree that virtually everyone hated.

The linden tree has been scourge of our street!

They are pretty to look at but attract aphids whose eggs fall from the tree leaving a sticky, gooey residue everywhere. This attracts hordes of wasps and it can be tricky and sometimes terrifying negotiating your way to your car without getting stung.

There will definitely be no eulogy for this tree! In fact the street is littered with similar trees. Several have already come down in the past few years including one on my property which damaged our house and would have damaged me had it been five minutes earlier. The neighbours have complained, consulted and cajoled the district to allow them to cut them down and replace them at their own cost but sometimes environmental sensitivity triumphs over safety and common sense.

The linden trees look harmless enough but they are a tragedy in the making and it's only a matter of time before someone will be seriously injured. In the meantime the street waits for nature to take its course.

Avrum Miller
North Vancouver

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