Deans' stroke musings: Mighty trophy tree hunter

A friend needed a branch cut down. Being the over confident idiot I am, I said sure I can do it. I'll bring my battery chainsaw and other pruning saws.A 12 foot extension ladder was propped up against the tree and my chainsaw handed to me, got a third of the way thru before the battery quit, it is a battery that no longer seems to hold a charge. It is quite challenging forcing a reluctant left hand open enough to grab the top bar of the chainsaw and still stay in place on the ladder. Finished cutting thru the branch, maybe 9 inches thick, with my 13 inch pruning saw. It fell wedging itself upright against the trunk three feet below the top of the ladder. Good thing it didn't swing out and fall all the way, it would have knocked the ladder down. Cut off one of the branches sticking in the ground and pulled it all the way down. Borrowed a neighbors plug in electric chainsaw and cut the limb into 16 inch pieces for firewood. Felt good to be useful once again. Dangerous as all get out but that is me. I had a summer job for 6 years as a steeplejack, the reason I got the job was because the previous employee died when he fell from the top of a steeple when he was trying to unrig the ropes.