Land And Tiny Houses

Life provides the prompts. What to write about? Well, what happened today? Today, my tree went on a significant, expensive, and necessary weight reduction. Three folks in about three hours removed trunks that were split and ready to fall, cleared out heavy deadweight, removed lots of watershoots (Is that the right term for branches popping out of random bits of trunk?), and finishing it off with a cosmetic makeover to balance the view. What’s that have to do with my tiny house? A lot, a little, and maybe nothing at all.

Let’s start with the ‘nothing at all’. I didn’t buy the house because of the tree, but a gorgeous, mature shade tree can be rare in a tiny home park, or any residential park. I was, and am, glad to get it as part of the deal. But…its older branches looked close to the house, and were overhanging my neighbor’s impressive SAR truck.

Well, maybe nothing will happen because nothing has happened. Except, no.

As I walked around it, trying to decide what to ask the tree trimmer to trim, I noticed a crack in a split trunk. Then, another. Then, many more. Gravity never stops. Winds come by with the storms. A trunk or a branch hitting my house or his truck would cost thousands of dollars to fix. Breathe in. Suck it up. Pay it out.

A tree trimming service had dropped letters into our mailboxes. They wanted work. I had work that needed to be done, and required skills I don’t have. My arms just aren’t as long as the arms on the bucket/crane/lift he could bring. Could I have gotten three independent and competitive bids? Sure. How long was it going to take to find three that would do the work and could find the site? That may happen in The Big City, but in unincorporated rural country, pragmatism out-competes idealism. But, yeah, ouch. Fortunately, I have barely spent any of the proceeds from selling my previous house.

Pardon me, and I have had to apologize to friends who criticized my approach; I decided to not risk the ‘a lot’ that I could have as a risk if I hoped for ‘a little, or nothing at all.’ One friend hoped with such an approach about their land, which subsequently slid, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage. This tree wouldn’t cost that much, but why risk it?

Like I mentioned, three guys, three hours, and my tree has had a haircut that still left it looking natural enough.

My tiny house is much safer; the roof will stay much cleaner. My neighbor’s truck is safer, which he said he appreciated. My anxiety level can recede, at least about that.

But how does this affect a tiny house? It does and it doesn’t. It doesn’t because the house and the tree are different things, each being able to exist without the other. The tree does affect the house because, if something had happened, the house would be damaged but not exactly in the way a stick-built house would be damaged . Once upon a time, this house was driven somewhere. It has a tongue for being pulled, a frame designed to roll straight, and a structure designed and built for a factory production line. Mending it may involve metal skills as well as carpentry. I’m not a carpenter, and I am sure I am even less skilled at welding.

And regardless of all of that, landscaping is landscaping. Plants and dirt, birds and bugs, lawn and being neighborly. The list of tasks is about as long as the list from my regular house. The biggest impact has been storing the tools. As I type, most of them are in the storage unit up the road. Eventually I hope to have a storage shed onsite, but that future doesn’t make a difference in this present.

The previous owner had style and gardening skills. Friends have been nice enough to identify the various species, which just convinces me to tend the land more rather than less.

A tiny house can fit on a tiny lot or massive acreage. That doesn’t change much, except the storage. If I owned this land, there’d already be a storage shed. Currently, that has to be approved by the park manager. If I owned more land, that shed would be closer to being a barn, and that barn would be expanded to act as a garage, workout space, and maybe a dance floor (in my dreams.)

I’m conducting an informal trial of an innovative mower. Basically, it is a weedwhacker that snaps into a chassis. Two tools in one, yet light, small, and portable. Storage is an important criterion. Sadly, it is either weak or its battteries are because I’m having to mow twice as often even though I bought an extra battery. I’m glad I kept my old reel mower, just in case. Or maybe it takes a while to tame an unkempt lawn.

For now, despite it being June, an autumn-type storm is predicted. It may knock a few dead branches out of the canopy, but the trunks should stay where they are. If they don’t, then imagine how much worse things would be.

Hmm. If it was still on wheels, how expensive would it be to move the house instead? #rhetorical