Dances with Chainsaw

Big wind a couple of weeks back broke a sizable limb in the ash tree in our front yard. I climbed up with a bow saw and cut down all but an 8' section that was too thick to tackle with a hand saw - it would have to wait until I got the chainsaw working again. I finally replaced the sparkplug this weekend. Fired up on second pull, figured I was good to go, so I got out a 16' extension ladder and climbed up there with the saw. But I couldn't quite manage the vigorous pull required to get it started while balancing on a limb, so I climb back down the ladder, started it while standing on the ground, then climbed back up, holding the running saw in one hand, throttling it to keep it running, thinking to myself, "is this such a good idea?" Well, better than calling a tree service. I get up there, position myself to have enough leverage on the saw to cut through the limb. Fortunately, the teeth were sharp so the cutting was easy. Cut it in 2 sections so that there was less chance of things going awry as the pieces fell. Short of it - I survived to tell the tale.