Ok so I know an actual tree is not what that famous eulogy was about. And I mean no disrespect. But that phrase is the one that repeated in my head that day and the days to come after, well, the mighty oak in my back yard fell.
6:04 AM on May 30th. It woke me up. My first thought was that there had been a crash on the interstate not far from my house. Then I realized there was no metal sound involved. Next my mind went to that huge tree. Naaahhh. Couldn't be. Must be thunder. But everything was silent. I looked at my alarm clock and my power was out. Again, must have been the tree.
I got up, pretty sure I wasn't holding my breath but, instead, forgot how to breathe, and looked out. There is was. It had fallen directly away from my house. And the roots that lifted in the air were about as tall as me. Two electric line poles were broken and I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out how to dial 911.
Once I did accomplish that, I called one of my in-town sons and he headed to my rescue immediately. My neighbor across the street came over, too. Soon the police and power company had things under control, clearing the street behind my house as well. You see, the tree fell across the small lot behind my house and reached so far across the street behind me that only one car could pass through at a time. It was quite a mess.
I'm kinda thinking people didn't believe me when I told them how big this tree was. Or that, had it fallen the other direction, I wouldn't be here today and everyone would be talking about what a wonderful person I WAS (yeah that was meant to be funny). But it was confirmed this week that this was one very old, very huge, tree. In fact, it was at least 150 years old and the largest root ball ever extracted by the company that finally removed the remainder of it for me.
Company after company turned me down at removing it. People said they would do the work and not finish it or not show up at all. Agree to do it but want to charge me a ridiculous amount and admitting they didn't want the job after bragging that they took the big jobs that no one else wanted but this one was just too big.
I was beginning to think I was going to have to decorate that root and make it a permanent fixture in my yard. This whole time, having a gaping hole in my back yard. No privacy and puppies who get a little too curious about what's on the other side of that broken fence.
Anyway, that day there was no storm. I had been taking pictures of a rainbow in the early evening prior to the event. The tree was there. And just like that, it was gone.
So, if you know me, sometimes I get upset in the beginning of a situation, but I try to learn something from whatever happens. Something huge I've taken from this situation is how smaller trees are affected by those huge trees. (Yes. Speaking metaphorically.)
You see, when the mighty oak fell, it knocked over smaller trees, causing them to die as well. But one tree, one tree that has grown up along side the oak for many years, is still there. I don't know that I ever noticed that tree before. It was hidden by the oak. It grew to fit around the oak. It stands tall but then grew to lean over with quite a bit of tree growing almost sideways to accommodate the mighty oak. It grew in silence, but it grew.
I've watched that bent tree over the last month and a half since the mighty oak fell. I've watched it through wind and storms and expected it to fall because it looked weak. Hmmm..... Apparently it's stronger than it appears!
I don't know if that tree will continue to grow or if the owners of that lot will cut it down. But it has taught me a lot, now that I know it's there. It can stand on its own, even though it has spent its entire life being overshadowed by the mighty oak. It is bent and even wounded. Yet it stands strong. I kinda hope it gets to stay. It reminds me of somebody I know. Somebody else who didn't get crushed under the might oak.
6:04 AM on May 30th. It woke me up. My first thought was that there had been a crash on the interstate not far from my house. Then I realized there was no metal sound involved. Next my mind went to that huge tree. Naaahhh. Couldn't be. Must be thunder. But everything was silent. I looked at my alarm clock and my power was out. Again, must have been the tree.
I got up, pretty sure I wasn't holding my breath but, instead, forgot how to breathe, and looked out. There is was. It had fallen directly away from my house. And the roots that lifted in the air were about as tall as me. Two electric line poles were broken and I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out how to dial 911.
Once I did accomplish that, I called one of my in-town sons and he headed to my rescue immediately. My neighbor across the street came over, too. Soon the police and power company had things under control, clearing the street behind my house as well. You see, the tree fell across the small lot behind my house and reached so far across the street behind me that only one car could pass through at a time. It was quite a mess.
I'm kinda thinking people didn't believe me when I told them how big this tree was. Or that, had it fallen the other direction, I wouldn't be here today and everyone would be talking about what a wonderful person I WAS (yeah that was meant to be funny). But it was confirmed this week that this was one very old, very huge, tree. In fact, it was at least 150 years old and the largest root ball ever extracted by the company that finally removed the remainder of it for me.
Company after company turned me down at removing it. People said they would do the work and not finish it or not show up at all. Agree to do it but want to charge me a ridiculous amount and admitting they didn't want the job after bragging that they took the big jobs that no one else wanted but this one was just too big.
I was beginning to think I was going to have to decorate that root and make it a permanent fixture in my yard. This whole time, having a gaping hole in my back yard. No privacy and puppies who get a little too curious about what's on the other side of that broken fence.
Anyway, that day there was no storm. I had been taking pictures of a rainbow in the early evening prior to the event. The tree was there. And just like that, it was gone.
So, if you know me, sometimes I get upset in the beginning of a situation, but I try to learn something from whatever happens. Something huge I've taken from this situation is how smaller trees are affected by those huge trees. (Yes. Speaking metaphorically.)
You see, when the mighty oak fell, it knocked over smaller trees, causing them to die as well. But one tree, one tree that has grown up along side the oak for many years, is still there. I don't know that I ever noticed that tree before. It was hidden by the oak. It grew to fit around the oak. It stands tall but then grew to lean over with quite a bit of tree growing almost sideways to accommodate the mighty oak. It grew in silence, but it grew.
I've watched that bent tree over the last month and a half since the mighty oak fell. I've watched it through wind and storms and expected it to fall because it looked weak. Hmmm..... Apparently it's stronger than it appears!
I don't know if that tree will continue to grow or if the owners of that lot will cut it down. But it has taught me a lot, now that I know it's there. It can stand on its own, even though it has spent its entire life being overshadowed by the mighty oak. It is bent and even wounded. Yet it stands strong. I kinda hope it gets to stay. It reminds me of somebody I know. Somebody else who didn't get crushed under the might oak.
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