The Unwanted Tree

We got a tree planted in our front yard a few weeks back.
We didn't plan on putting another tree in our little yard.  It's funny because I saw the City Forestry guys backing up there truck to the end of our street, when i was doing a little lawn maintenance that morning.  But I didn't think anything of it since I wasn't expecting it.

I was in the garage when they came into my yard and planted it.
I said. "Hey, what are you doing?"
The younger worker said "you should've gotten a notice about this City Canopy project and if you didn't want the tree you needed to call."
"What notice?  I never received a notice"

So I called 311, and they said we have notification that a notice was delivered to all the houses on your street on March 4.  I said I never received one.  I check each and ever piece of mail.  And there was no notice.  I asked if I could remove the tree myself.  I was ready to go bobcat all over that tree and repair my lawn that i was just working on before they dug a hole in. But the city said no. And i read that if i removed the tree myself.  It would be a $500.00 fine. And to request it to be removed would be $300.00.  NICE.  But in reality i was uttering a different 4 letter word.

I discovered that they didn't put it in the mail slot, but in the door handle.  Two neighbours called because they're retired and saw the notice in their door before it blew away.  But just the other day Kieran and I were walking along our street and there were 6 houses that had no trees yet no tree was planted.  I knew the two neighbours that called.  Yet these other homes didn't get one?  The city processes are at best messed up.

But our in house politician in training and a series of emails to our Councillor seemed to do the trick.  It took about 2 weeks but the unwanted tree is now on a truck with what i heard were other unwanted trees.  I didn't want to kill the tree.  Although I was going down that path before we went away on vacation. But It's a living thing.  It didn't harm any one. However our yard is already small and we already had a large tree.  It made no sense to put a second one that would eventually grow into the power lines.

But when we got back.  The tree was GONE!  Now i had a patch to repair and I was okay with that.  I was just happy I didn't have to pay to have it removed.  And I didn't have to make the tree suffer.