The Burnah family went to the cabin in the Uintahs this summer. Tavish's grandpa and grandma were there too. Tavish's grandpa- Grandpa Bay- wanted some work done by the young strapping boys. (By young, I mean in their 30's. Grandpa Bay is 87 I believe.) You have to know Grandpa Bay- he is a great guy who has lots of energy (especially for his age), is a hard worker, and has done many crazy things in his lifetime. He wanted to cut down some trees up at the cabin. They were HUGE, I mean HUGE, pine trees that the swing is on. The trees had gotten a disease and were dying. He wanted to cut the top halves, that were dead, off to prevent accidents in the future. Anyway, this meant that the boys would have to use their climbing gear to get way up, and chainsaw the branches and large portions of the trees down. (An alarm is going off in my head right here, and probably yours too, saying, "Don't do it!")
This didn't seem like a good idea to me, but I'm known as being a paranoid one in the Burnah family, so I didn't say anything. Some of those boys are crazy risk-takers sometimes, my husband included. But, Tavish wasn't going to climb up there, so I just thought, "Whatever- as long as it's not my husband doing something dangerous high up in a tree". I just wanted to keep the kids far, far away and not watch what was going on. Colin and Phil climbed up the tree- with the chainsaw (Again the alarm is going off, "Don't do it!"). Grandpa Bay and the other boys directed from the ground.
They made a bunch of cuts, and huge trees were falling. It was scary. Then, they cut one huge part of the tree that fell the wrong way, not the way anticipated. I was off with the kids, and heard the crack of the tree and then everyone gasp and saw Grandpa Art running toward the tree. Immediately, panic set in- in all of us. The tree had fallen right on Colin- way up high in the tree. It pinned him against the tree he was in and was on his back and shoulders. I can't begin to tell you the awful feeling this was for all of us- especially his mom. No one worries more than a mom. Everyone was so worried, Grandpa Bay even started to climb the tree to get him out, but I'm sure realized he wouldn't be able to help. We were all praying as they tried to get him out. Colin wasn't saying much, so we worried that something was seriously wrong. Phil went up with the chainsaw to cut him out, then we were worried about branches flipping out and hitting him as well. Phil made some cuts as everyone guided him from the ground, and soon he was free. Colin climbed down the tree super fast with all limbs in tact. It was surreal. We were all amazed and relieved. We had just witnessed a miracle.
His mom took him to the Dr. to make sure there weren't broken bones or internal problems. They didn't find anything wrong besides scrapes, but he was really sore for quite a while.
I'm certain we saw the hand of the Lord that day. If the tree would have fallen just over a few inches, it could have been much worse. I'm pretty sure he has a guardian angel (or two), and we're all so grateful he is OK.
Before the accident
It's hard to see, but Colin is there in the tangle of trees. Phil is in the yellow.
It really was a miracle.
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