Dealing With a Fallen Saguaro

It must be noted that there are very strict rules about what one can do with a saguaro.  They only sprout arms after 75 or 100 years of growth.  This is what the healthy insides look like.

This is what the dead parts of the inside look like. 

Once the knob calcified around to the juncture with the healthy arm (see above) the whole thing detached itself and landed on my driveway.  It took The HandyMan heavy work gloves, straps rated to 1000 pounds (the 500 pound ones failed), and all his superhuman-since-his-car-accident strength to maneuver it into place.  

This is at the end of what we were dealing with.

It was gooey.  It was sticky.  It was firmly attached. And it stank.  Not just smelled bad.  It stank.  Plus, it left little pieces of thick goo and a rancid looking and stinking streak up the middle of the driveway.  It's too far from the hose bibs to be sprayed away.  We laughed at each other as we said, with ironic synchronicity, Rain will wash it away.

I walked behind as The HandyMan dragged the carcass behind his not-very-fuel-efficient-but-fits-his-needs-perfectly shiny new black truck.

Bear witness to the failure of the 500 pound test strap's failure.  

This video is quiet enough for work.

There is video of the perilous left turn and our general dissatisfaction with the awkward placement of my landscaping.  There was no great place to offload the thing. Rolling it was not an option - the arm that managed to remain attached was in the way.  There was no way for the truck to maneuver it from the road to the front yard and leave unscathed.

Remember that inhuman strength? Remember the frayed 500 test strap?  That piece of the saguaro weighed at least 600 pounds and he's dragging it through pebbles that do not want to join the fun.

Is it exactly where I want it to live?  Probably not.  But that's as far as it was going and that was that.  The Yard Guys are coming soon; by then I should have a plan.  

For now, I'll hope that these clouds and this wind brings some rain.  That stain is really annoying.