Why I love/ hate maple trees

We're all suppose to love trees. Where we live there are many thousands of trees and I am quite fond of them. Maples and sycamores (same family) are nice to look at, especially when their leaves turn red. You get maple syrup too.

In a stringed musical instrument, a maple back gives a bright clean sound. Most of the finest violins are made with maple backs, giving that lovely flamed effect. Guitars too can have maple backs giving them a light crisp sound.

So what's not to like?

The pesky maple or sycamore that stands alongside Lady Elgar and Herbie, I do not like. It has dropped its slimy wet leaves all over Herbie's roof leaving black leaf imprints (that I can't entirely get off) all over the roof that I (sorry Rick & Marilyn and Kath, WE) took so much care over painting last spring. Lady Elgar's roof, being more under the tree, is nearly all black.

I think the only real remedy, come next spring, will be to clean it down and put on another coat of paint. Now we have a good surface I suppose I could probably do it in an afternoon.

I wonder how well maple burns?