to the tree

A quick mid-day trip home to do a little photoshop for this week's edition of the newspaper brought me upon the discovery of one of our twin tree's felling.

We [the collective family] knew that the trees would have to both come down.  This was especially evident after recent storms.  

It was just unexpected for my Tuesday afternoon.

I expect that the trunk is at least a yard in diameter and large enough that its lower branches were never accessible for climbing as children.  

This tree and its sister tree used to line our driveway, which once stood between the maples and the pines.  

After coming home from a trip mom and dad would leave us to sleep in the car [windows down, of course] under the shade of the trees.  You used to be able to do things like that at one time.

A man who burns wood as heat in the winter came and collected the limbs and rotted trunk quite quickly yesterday.  

It will take some time to adjust to the open, empty front yard and direct view of the corn field.  The family was all a little sad; a grave respect for trees has somehow been instilled into us all.  I guess that comes from a gardening mother, and a father who refused to chop down a Christmas pine (or have a fake tree) so every year we have a live potted one to go into the backyard after the celebration.

It takes generations for a tree to grow so large and that has earned our respect.  And out of respect we are all now contemplating where to place a new tree for the generations to come.