Anything can happen.

This post was originally left as a comment on the While we were waiting... article posted by Luke, but thought it was not noticed because it was posted so late (yesterday). Anyway, it was intended for Luke. It reads;

Luke, I've felled a few trees in my day and feel I must confess, when it comes to cutting down very large ones, its always been rather scary. Anything can happen. When there is the least bit of doubt about which way a tree will fall, its probably not worth the risk. You have so many on your property to choose from, that shouldn't be a problem. Even when you feel pretty confident about that, a branch can snap and fall on your head. I'm not trying to scare you or tell you what to do or anything but the smartest safety advice to share with you is this; never go out alone cutting firewood. I've said it once here already but it bears repeating, anything can happen.
My love to the family, Pop