RIP Jed Walters

Nice tribute... watched the cottonwood vid when it was first posted and could tell he (Jed) was the real deal. What I liked most about him was his humble demeanor. He shined on camera. fuckin storm damage, general public has no idea...
 
This song seems fitting...


A Row of Small Trees
--Garnet Rogers

Her rings still held her warmth
As they fell to his hand
The doctor said, "there's no more we could do"
And he was worried at first that he did not understand
But then he saw his fist close
So he knew
And we watched from the window
As he walked slowly outside
He seemed unsure as to which way to go
And his coat whipped his legs
As the traffic blew by
He had one shoulder raised
As though to ward off a blow

And he lay in their bedroom
Those first sleepless nights
Too restless to sleep and too tired to cry
And he'd wander downstairs
In the pale morning light
To stare at the horizon with unseeing eyes

His neighbours worried about him
Those first desperate weeks
He seemed to dwindle and shrink in his clothes
And in the evenings
He'd wander the hills by himself
To return as the morning sun rose
The grass shook and swayed in the meadow
As he stood in the night
And he heard the dry whisper of leaves
And the wind was her spirit
Running free through the grass
Whispering warm in his ear "don't you grieve"

He was seen kneeling last Friday
On a high windswept hill
And his white hair blew back in the breeze
And we thought he was praying
Or had taken a fall
But he was planting a row of small trees
 
August nailed it :

Jed was unique in his way of talking himself down, while having a rarified skill set. What only became apparent through the videos was that he was always either smiling or on the verge of breaking into a smile. The vibration of his kindness and his dominant emotion of joy really comes through in every bit of video from cutting big trees to sharpening the chains... He was easy to love and admire. We were going to get together next time I got out to Washington. Wish I had made it happen. GOD BLESS JED on his journey into the spirit world. And thanks August for sharing your perspective.. you have a lot of wisdom, and share it wisely .
 
Wow! I have watched the World's Best Tree Felling Tutorial many, many times. As a guy who just needed to do a little maintenance on my own trees and clear a big dead tree at my hunt club, I found the skills of you all in that video amazing, and excellent training for an inexperienced rookie.

Until this morning, I didn't realize that this was the same Jeff. Man it breaks my heart.

Thank you for making this tribute and personalizing this man's memory. I have contributed to the Go Fund Me and cannot imagine the sense of loss for his family and friends.
 
We have any other details?
So forgive me if this stings a bit? Reflecting on my personal journey into the
terrifying world of " I can't believe I survived that!" tree work world.
Too many to count injuries in the past. Never anything overnight in a hospital or debilitating but painful non the less.
  1. Bloody ignorance
  2. blindness from distraction
  3. reluctance to pause, breathe and assess further/rushing
  4. to proud to ask for help
  5. miscommunication
  6. personal health-sleep-nutrition-illness etc
list goes on.
We don't know what Jed did or did not do?

What we will do is pull and/or push a tree in increasing force increments to ascertain its safety. It greatly helps to switch up the ones pulling with the ones observing. everybody sees things differently so the more eyes/observations the better our conclusion will be.
Is the tree safe to work? Will we all be free from harm in a worse case scenario.
Can we trust our method, technique, tools, practice, observations?
Our conclusions?
Everyday we step into the ring with an opponent. Who may be better or may be worse.
Our worst day on their best day, we may lose.
Be Respectful, be humble, show humility.
If we are afraid, we must pause and reassess. Do not turn your back on your opponent. Back up, duck, sidestep etc.
Be prepared.

God bless you all
 
I remember other similar situations. Rope was tied to me so a distant observer could pull the rope/signal to me any changes. Long pole works well to. One could also build a barrier or spider web or bring in big equipment.
 

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