Memorial to a tree – yes, a tree

Wednesday, November 18 2009 - Purely Personal

Five years ago, I wrote this blog post about a tree on our property.

I see this tree all day long while I'm working. This tree is like the ocean. In the summer when it is full green and the wind is blowing, it is absolutely mesmerizing to watch it. I have never loved a tree before, but I love this tree.

Two summers later, I was on the phone during a thunderstorm, with Don Smith from Microsoft’s Patterns and Practices group (who is sure to remember this incident), when lightning struck our house. The next day, I discovered that it had also struck the tree.

Over the next few years, half of the tree was clearly dead. This past summer, the other half succumbed as well. We knew it was a goner but even barren, it was still beautiful. However, it had become a liability because, though the tree was might and strong even when dead, its huge branches were coming down when we had big winds.

So today, Rich finally did the deed and cut the tree down. It’s funny to be sad about a tree. And i will provide a LOT of fuel for us since we are getting a wood stove soon. But still, it was a thing of beauty.

And deserving of one last blog post.

#1 Michael K. Campbell on 11.18.2009 at 11:31 AM

Yeah - no worries on being sentimental about a tree. We lost a beautiful Birch in our back-yard to a nasty species of beattle - after a year or two of trying to save it (tree doctor and everything).

Love the fall colors in that photo. Personally, I'd be fine if the year was 8 months long (1 month of winter, 1 month of summer, and 3 months of both spring and fall).

Up in my part of the world we get pretty similar colors - but one of the things I just love about living over here is that we have Tamarack Larches - which are actually deciduous conifers. That's right: 'evergreens' that lose their needles. They kick off some INSANELY vibrant colors as they go from dark green to light (almost neon) green, then through orange and red.

en.wikipedia.org/.../Tamarack_Larch

#2 Julie on 11.18.2009 at 11:41 AM

We have a bunhc of gigantic tamaracks here. It's always funny when people are new to the oxymoron of deciduous conifer. I like the opportunity to be the one to share it for the first time! :)

#3 Francois Vanderseypen on 11.18.2009 at 11:42 AM

Beautiful, a human touch in this arid world of technology. Life is a mystery.

#4 Bryan on 11.18.2009 at 1:56 PM

I too am emotionally attached to a tree. In my case it's not a tree I see every day though. I usually only see it once or twice a year. It's a huge tree that my late grandfather planted when he was my age. I think it's a type of oak but I could be wrong. Over the years it's grown so much that it is actually bigger than the house. It's trunk is at least 20' in circumference and it has branches that are larger than any of the trees at my house. My aunt lives in the house now and is constantly arguing with the owner of the adjacent property because some of the tree's branches overhand the property line. Never mind that there's no house on the adjacent property. This guy is just fussing for the purpose of being a nuisance since we refused to sell our property to him and making his property have an odd shape. If he ever decides to take the matter to court we'll probably have to at least trim the tree which will be a real shame. I think I'll take my camera with my widest lens down over Thanksgiving and try to get a good shot of the tree without trespassing. I'll do it from the road if I have to.

#5 Dave Burke on 11.19.2009 at 8:21 PM

Beautiful photo and a beautiful post. Sorry about the tree. Fortunately you still have thousands of other beautiful Vermont trees to view from your office window.

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