My Tree

Sunday was a thunderstormy, blustery day. I sat at my computer, but looked up when I heard a gust of wind whip through the backyard. As I looked I noticed the wind catch the biggest tree in our yard. Suddenly I heard a crack and a thud as the top two-thirds of the tree fell. This big old beech tree which I loved to watch, photograph and admire suddenly is only a 20 foot stump in our yard.

The tree which is on the edge of our property fell away from our house into our neighbor’s yard. It took out the tops of several other trees as it fell and did some damage to a shed on his property. I don’t know how old this tree was, but it was one of the largest in our neighborhood–perhaps 75 feet tall. It has lost large branches through the years we’ve lived here and had two large holes in the trunk.

The tree fell just below the bottom of the two holes. The holes weakened the tree in the last few years, but I loved watching the squirrels play in the holes as well as the mother raccoon who kept her babies in the tree for several weeks each spring. Most years (usually in May) I looked out the kitchen window and watched her move her babies out of the tree to new quarters in the neighborhood! I thought just last week I hadn’t seen the raccoons this year. After the tree fell I headed outside and the raccoon stuck her head out of the top of the tree stump–suddenly she had no roof on her house! As soon as she saw me she ducked down and I don’t know if she stayed put until dark (we got a lot of rain Sunday) or whether she quickly left for newer quarters.

We’ve lived in this house nearly 10 years. That’s the longest we’ve lived anywhere since we’ve been married! It was the yard and all the trees which attracted me. According to the fellow who came to look at our trees and advise us about them these trees were here when the house was built–part of the hardwood forest we used to have around here. I’ve photographed my tree in every season. I thought it gave our yard such character. When I looked at the tree I always had a vision of the tree suddenly walking away (like the the big old trees in the Lord of the Rings movie who join the battle). I could imagine my tree leaving to find other beech trees. All the old beech trees in our neighborhood have died and been cut down. Instead of walking away our majestic tree fell and I won’t look out my kitchen window and see it anymore.

Instead I will see this. Still interesting, but not the same. My husband says we should make a totem pole–I say it’s already a totem pole!