Fallen

Over the past week, we had some pretty powerful storms.  As you can see in the picture, my husband is shown cutting up the large branch that was blown down by the wind over the weekend.  We have a tall corkscrew willow in our back yard that we planted when we first moved into the house over 20 years ago.  It is really big now and slowly dying off, and we really can't afford to have professional tree person come in and trim it or analyze it.  We have been kind of letting Mother Nature take care of it for us.  This is the largest branch that has fallen so far and fortuately it didn't fall on the patio and destroy what was there.  I have a number of containers with plants there and it would have been a real shame to have lost those although it would not have been that costly to replace.  My biggest fear is that the tree will fall on the house.

A friend of mine did have a tree fall on her house and it was pretty serious.  Fortunately there was no one home at the time because if they had been home, her son would have been seriously injured, if not killed by that tree.  The damage was through the roof, her son's room, and the kitchen, and they have to move into an apartment for about 6 months until the repairs are complete.  The upside to this is that she is getting a new kitchen out of the deal, which was on the list eventually anyway. 

I guess I can live with that proposition now that I think of it as this tree is situated in the rear of the house and if it does fall on the house the same rooms will be affected in my house as in hers.  The kitchen has been a sore point for me in all the years we have lived there but my husband has not gotten around to updating it so I continue to live with it as it is.  But then again, I need to be careful with what I wish for because despite the fact insurance will cover most of it, the cost of the new kitchen I want along with repairs to the house caused by the tree will far exceed the amount of coverage we have.  At least now we have a great supply of firewood for our patio firepit for the next year or so.

Tree Killer

On Saturday, while we were all waiting for the Rapture to happen, one of the trees on my property met with a tragic accident. Our neighbor, not paying attention to his driving was speeding up to his house intending to stop in briefly, drove up at a high rate of speed and caught a limb of one of our trees and ripped it off. As you can see from this picture, there is now a gaping hole in the front of the tree which will no doubt substantially reduce the tree’s lifespan.

The ordinance says that any tree hanging over the roadway has to have a clearance of 14’. Our trees do not hang out over the road and therefore are within the standard for city street trees. We planted them some 20 years ago, and when they first went in, my husband and our neighbor made sure to measure carefully so they are spaced a good four feet apart. We are also pretty good at monitoring the branches and making sure they clear the tallest vehicle that is parked at the curb. I have no doubt that this poor tree will meet its demise sooner that the others at which point there will be a gaping hole in the symmetry that was our tree line.

When something like this happens, I am always curious at the reaction of the person involved. First my husband, who has been known to have a quick temper, handled it rather rationally. I was not able to witness this, but my husband told me that after his initial outburst of profanity, he approached our neighbor calmly realizing that screaming and demanding answers would not put the branch back on the tree (a lesson that has taken over 20 years to learn). Our neighbor was quite apologetic over the situation and offered to pay for anything that was needed. He realized he made a grievous error on and was totally in the wrong. We may have an arborist come by and give some advice, but the people to whom I sent copies of the pictures felt it was unnecessary because the arborist could not really do anything to help. The tree will die eventually and they felt that although the trauma will kill it sooner than the others there is nothing that can be done to extend its life. We will just have to trim the edges and hope for the best.

You Can Learn A Lot From a Tree

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
-- Joyce Kilmer

The other day I was riding past a stream and happened to notice the trees lining the water. You could see the exposed roots and the way they hugged the ground. The tree was very tall and I wondered about its stability with such a fragile-looking base as there didn’t seem to be a lot holding it to the shore. Trees seem so tenacious in their ability to grab the ground and grow anywhere. It is that kind of press-on-regardless attitude that I admire about trees.

If you think about it, there are some other qualities about trees that can teach one about life:

• Trees are simple. They don’t need much except air, water, and a little nourishment.
• Trees care for others sometimes at the risk of their own existence. Many animals can live in a tree and it doesn’t seem to bother it.
• Trees don’t let the bad elements bother them. Their bark is rough and protective.
• Trees are flexible. They sway with the wind yet stay standing.
• Trees are adaptable yet dependable. They may drop their leaves in the winter, but come back every spring.
• Trees are good housekeepers. They clean the air and keep it fresh for others.

Maybe that's how the term Tree of Life came about.