July 12, 2012

  • A Stately Tree...Gone In Seconds!

    TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

    Just down the road from us, at a four-way stop, once stood a gorgeous oak tree.  From the size of it, it had to have been somewhere around 100 years old.  It stood on a horse and cow farm and you could see the horses laying down under it in hot weather sometimes. 

    The other day, we had a storm here that was really intense.  The rain came down HARD.  The wind was fierce!  And there was lightning.  Oh yes, there was lightning.  It was the wind and the lightning that did that poor oak in.

    The skeleton of what was once a mighty oak shows that lightning hit it almost dead center.  It started the tree on fire and the wind whipped the branches and made some crack and fall.  The flames did their worst and then the rain put out the fire after about a half hour and before the firemen had to battle it.  They just stood there and watched us lose another of our trees that have stood for years and years. 

    But this one I will miss.  I used to point out the horses underneath the tree when Chewlee was riding with me and we came to that stop sign that meant we were almost home.  That corner is going to seem naked now.  I know it's nature and we can't control that but I hate to see that kind of loss.  Trees take so long to grow and spread like that oak.  I thought the loss of the elms near downtown was bad enough when the tornado hit us a couple years ago.  It made that whole area seem naked without them.  But this oak was a tree I saw all the time and I mourn it's loss.  This was personal for me.

    Love you all.