Walking. And Ranting.

~ Live & Learn

5:35 a.m. Clear. Cool. 39° F. I open the door, step out onto the front porch, and look out at the skyline. It’s as fresh as if it occurred 5 minutes ago, triggering disbelief and racing its way on to fury.

Yes, it could have been any number of topics that I came across in this morning’s paper. “When do we get to use guns?…How many elections are they going to steal before we kill these people?” Or, “…refusal to provide information to the House Committee investigating the Jan 6 attack on the Capitol. Or, “What abortion access looks like in Mississippi.” Or, “Rep Congressman shared a threatening voicemail he received following his vote to pass the $1.2T infrastructure bills…’I hope your f—- family dies…you f— piece of f—- s—. Traitor.”

This all would have been adequate kindling to light a raging fire. But, no. As worthy as these subjects are, they did not. Not at that moment.

And what’s the line from Tip O’Neil? ‘All Politics is local.”

No, this has nothing to do with politics. And everything to do with local. Like the neighborhood.

First, some table stakes.

There’s a large, sugar maple tree in our backyard. It’s home to a family of raccoons in its rotting center. Susan, Master of all things Home, has been on me to remove the tree. “It will fall on our house…It could kill someone.” Yes, it’s a giant, rotting tree. Yes, it is leaning treacherously towards the house. But no, it will not come down. It will not. Non-negotiable. Let it fall.

Now, back to the scene outside the front door.

Refer to picture up top. Our neighbor’s yard. Our neighbor’s giant Oak tree.

“How old is your tree?”

“Well, I’ve been told somewhere between 200 to 300 years old.”

“No!”

“Yes!”

She used to have three giant oaks in her yard. In the last major storm, a large branch from a now-gone sibling fell on her neighbor’s drive way. Neighbor threatens a lawsuit if the tree isn’t removed. That Tree, estimated to be 100+ years old, is felled. Gone.

Fast forward to last Tuesday. I’m working from home. I’m watching heavy equipment move in. Neighbor to the right of this neighbor has two arborists opine that their giant oak tree is diseased and rotting and should be removed.

So, after surviving blizzards, heat waves, hurricanes, below freezing temperatures, and all this over and over for over 100 years, it’s the Idiot Humans that slayed this beautiful 150+ year creature — its limbs fed into an industrial sized chipper, the gnashing of its large steel teeth, an endless migraine.

I’m sorry. But this is all Bullsh*t. Sickening.

Worried about falling tree branches? Or a few scratches on your car? Go live in NYC, bask in the sea of concrete.

But leave our damn trees alone!

50 thoughts on “Walking. And Ranting.”

  1. That is a gorgeous and amazing tree.
    I am with you on not wanting to fell any trees. Especially beautiful ancient ones like these.
    I do, however, want you to keep an eye on yours. Do not put you and your family in danger!!

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      2. Here is where the “but” from a Vermonter comes in… storms…particularly wind storms come when they will and a tree falls very quickly. You will hear the crack and then it’s down. A geometry or physics student could calculate the exact location of the pending fall. Those trees make great firewood for a fireplace or fire pit so go that route instead of chipping. You probably have two cords of wood in that tree. Ha! You win and your tree will continue to warm your heart…and your feet.

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  6. Lovely tree! I too have a giant tree in my front yard, (not quite as big as these gorgeous trees in your photograph) it is leaning toward the house and it’s cause for pause in hurricane season, but the tree will remain, with an occasional trim. Thank you for sharing this David, the video too. Loved it!

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  7. How tragic. Such a beautiful tree. I feel your pain. Some years back, we lost a tree after it was struck by lightning and half of it fell on the house. It absolutely broke my heart to remove the rest and all I could do was cry. A neighbour who is a wood turner took some pieces to turn it into art and then he in turn got sick. The stump is still there and I can’t bear to part with it. We get offers all the time to remove it, for a fee, but I decline and instead watch pileated woodpeckers peck at it, mushrooms thrive on it, and squirrels perch on it. If I had to do it all over again I wouldn’t.

    My husband wrote this poem at the time:

    Something there is
    That loves a tree

    This tree

    This Norway maple
    The last to shed
    Her shade in autumn

    Great storm Survivor
    Scarred amputee
    Still standing but
    Ready to be
    Unpredictable

    The might reduced
    By blight reduced
    By bite of chainsaw

    Gnarling end
    to gnarly friend
    Whose filtered limbs
    Will shade no more

    November 7th, 2015

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  9. Fear and awe. That’s what I feel about the trees around our place. So many animals (not to mention humans in the greater scheme of things) depend on trees. Still, I worry about being smooshed into my mattress by a falling fir tree in a windstorm. It’s a dilemma. So far, I’m still hoping the trees will outlive me, and I think they will.

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          3. Yup! Not a threat in most windstorms, but we’ve had a few real doozers over the years, and when you get a lot of rain soaking the ground, and big winds blowing on those thick branches, the shallow roots (because of the sandy ground) tend to rock and lift and sometimes they can’t hold on. We’ve been lucky so far.

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  10. How wonderful that we can all celebrate trees! Brings back a memory that could be a lesson. In the old (1803) house where I raised my children, we had a very tall Norway spruce right in front of the house. One year it fell–away from the house. I didn’t know enough to worry about it, I felt grief over the loss and the empty space. Then, before long a little one grew up in its place! And, it grew to be tall! (and I see we watch the same news…) Ah…trees…skies…water….

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  11. Oh I’m so with you on this topic. I could still break out in tears when I think of our blue Lebanon cedar who (which?) died within 3 months and which broke my heart ❤ and wallet when our twin brothers (gardeners) came and cut every branch off separately, showed me the reasons and, after 2 days, when they took off the pieces, I had to go away the whole day…. because I couldn’t take any more of the agony. That majestic tree was one of the main reasons for buying that house!
    Some ppl are tremendous idiots. Maybe they are also politicians? 🤔
    I’m sharing your hurt and anger 😠 (for once).

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  12. we’ve got a huge oak tree in our front yard and I can’t imagine taking it down. but our township also has a law that if you take a tree down, you have to replace it with a certain number of new trees…

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  14. Pingback: A Colorful Day Reminded Me . . . | Mitigating Chaos

  16. You know I love trees and just happened to have a Forester visit my piece of heaven here in NH. First he said ” I love your place no wonder you have so much wildlife.” Then he looked at the health of my trees and the invasive species prior people planted or birds and said to get after them come spring but as we rounded the front of the house he said “if you come into some extra cash please have that white pine taken down!” I know it is huge but so many species love it but like him should it fall onto the house anyone inside could potentially die. 😦 I love my tall Pines and they give much to me as it does for the wild life, as this is the only reason I have a shade garden.

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  17. growing up a prairie girl where trees were sparse, I regularly stand in awe at the mighty mighty trees in my Michigan neighborhood. I cried when an ice storm felled one of ours. All that history, all that time to grow up so beautifully. I can’t live in the woods, but I sure do enjoy them. ~sigh.

    MJ

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  19. Sadly, I don’t understand 100% the context of your article due to my short of knowledge about English, But I have had my thinking about the trees. Every time I see trees, I wonder how they stay for a long time without any difficulties (not small trees). They might are struggling for hardships, But we can’t figure out. Because we don’t watch trees all the time in our life. If we see that situation, we will break out in tears.

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