Just over two years ago our daughter and her husband purchased their first home.
Before signing on the dotted line she wanted us to see the house. Having built a few homes in my lifetime, she wanted my assessment. We met her in Pennsylvania at the home they were renting and followed her to the house they were considering buying.
As we pulled into the driveway, the first thing that caught my eye was a tree that towered over the house. For a fellow that had fallen in love with these gifts from #nature, looooong ago, a smile erupted on my mug before I even shifted the car into PARK. Come to think of it, I may have exited the vehicle why it was still moving.
From there on, things only got better. Structurally the house was sound, it was move in ready, and the view was spectacular. After taking a tour of the interior of the joint, our daughter told us the price. I gave her a double thumbs up, after which I spent the next half of an hour gawking at this amazing creation of #Mother #Nature, circling the behemoth structure, that dwarfed my presence.
Fast forward two years.
A few weeks ago, our daughter called us and immediately I could tell by her voice something was up, and there was. After filling me in on what was bothering her, I was relieved. The situation that concerned her had nothing to do with family!
The disquiet that was apparent in her voice had to do with the tree you see in this picture. Last year, this astounding, giant Hard Maple tree looked like this, besides the upside triangle of course. The triangle I placed here outlines an area of the tree that shows that something was not right, which no one noticed last year. The slight difference in the color of the foliage, a pale green rather than the deep green you see on both sides of the triangle was of no concern, until recently.
The Hard Maple, also referred to as the Sugar Maple, was sick.
This Spring, the entire section inside the triangle was dead, not a single leaf. The huge branch that supported all of this greenery was losing it bark as well. A tree of this magnitude is something to admire. All of the gifts that it has bestowed over the centuries of its existence would be coming to an abrupt end.
The sap for making Maple syrup that comes from this tree, the shade it provides from the ever intensifying sunlight, its innate ability to magically consume CO2 and expel O, a place for our #featheredfriends to nest, and the sheer beauty that a tree of this magnitude tantalizes us with, as the seasons change, would VANISH.
in such a short period of time..
The swing was a big hit and the kids had a hard time dislodging the adults from its seat.
our daughter and her husband did their due diligence,
having two different arborists come to their home to evaluate the situation.
Sadly, both experts came up with the same conclusion, the tree needed to go.
As one limb after the next found its way to the ground, the anguish had to build.
On impact, the thunderous collision between 1,000 pound limbs and the earth would be the last she would hear from this marvel.
The breezes that once ruffled the leaves of this giant wind chime would now pass silently.
WHAT A SHAME
Even in its death it has left behind a gift, FIREWOOD.
as the passing of time will take the sting out of this new reality.
While the gentleman who dropped the tree, stands over the giant he has just brought to its knees, I wonder what his thoughts were? Is he saddened by what had to be done, I would like to think so.
The arborists were spot on and our Erica and her hubby made the right call. The color of the wood where you see the circle drawn is known as the sapwood and heartwood of a tree. Their color should be as white as the rest of this log.
The Giant Sugar Maple had been executed by something so very tiny, Carpenter Ants.
These destructive insects had to be going at it for years upon years to accomplish such devastation.
