My apartment is on the fourth floor of a ten story building. When I first purchased my apartment in 2003, a good friend of mine Jamie from Philadelphia made a very prescient comment. As we were looking out over the beautiful views from my apartment, he said “Wonder what you’ll do when those trees grow a little?”

He was so right. One of the reasons that I love my apartment is that the views are incredible. I can see Christo from every room of my condo, but more importantly, I can see the beautiful Lagoa lake. It is a fantastic contrast to the hustle and bustle of Rio de Janeiro. After running the lake, it was absolutely one of my favorite things to cool down drinking an agua de coco while looking over the beautiful lake.
About two years ago, the tree was growing and beginning to block the view. Solange called the City of Rio de Janeiro every day for months. All to no avail. Eventually we gave up. But of course, the tree just kept on growing each day making my view a little bit worse.

My friend Augusto and I decided to take matters into our own hands. We went and bought a small saw, a long pipe, rope, and duct tape. Using this contraption, we would tie a branch, and slowly saw away at the branch. Once the branch fell, the rope would catch it, and then we would drag the branch in through the window and cut it into pieces. This photo represents just a small victory in the Battle Against the Tree.

This branch was actually larger than the sofa!