There
was a huge elm tree on the boulevard in front of my 1940 something house.
This tree was by far the largest of the row of trees on the street that
were planted by the city even before the houses were built and we believe it
was about 75 years old. I have lived here in the shade of that tree
since I was 16 years old. I have spent almost 40 years with it shading my
yard and house in the summer and with me raking it's leaves in the fall.
We have been banding the tree to protect it from Dutch Elm Disease for the past
decade. My kids tried to climb it, took crayon rubbings on its bark and we
watched the squirrels and birds that lived in it.
A few weeks ago we had a severe storm system move through the lower part of our province including the city. It was strange driving through it because there were strong winds but it felt like they were coming from all directions. We were safely in our house when heavy rains and winds and then lightning started. The lights were flickering and then there was an odd noise outside our house. We heard kind of a huge whoosh and sucking noise and we realized the tree outside falling. My daughter and I, perhaps rather stupidly, ran out side to see how bad things were. One of the major sections of the tree had fallen to the side and was resting on roofs and the side of my neighbor's two-story house. Miraculously no one was hurt and there was no real damage to the house.
We
walked over to the main trunk and were shocked to find that that it smelled
like a campfire. I saw a blackened, charcoal area and I could see smoke rising
off it and then as raindrops were hitting it they sizzled and steam was rising.
You could feel heat spreading out from the tree.
Neighbors
I hadn't talked to in years gathered around to chat. People were stopping their
cars and getting out to take pictures. The storm lasted only 30 minutes but
reports of damage came from all over the city including roof damage, power
outages affecting 1000's and over 500 trees down.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEbiOmqde6zvQzfGgqfaRfj8NUJymujD6O73SldxAZGzgFkdvE7yOjHO0W9ijxvRctDmydKclM7x0BehfIajB7nuCi0nJX1ObwhhkfoS5j0JDcDZfRyNBDvjenF3whZe782zqHQBRVzQQ/s320/tree4.jpg)
I
have a very wise adviser, Deb, who questioned why the heck I even cared
that a bunch of neighbors thought I was mistaken when I knew that I was not.
Wow. Powerful. Why did I care? I think it reflects how much of a beating my self-esteem
has suffered in the past few years. I can't always trust my memory, I come up
with wrong words and I make a lot of random little mistakes. I have learned to
doubt myself and second-guess everything I do. The problem is not if other
people believe in me. The problem is believing in myself.
The
city sent their crew out later in the week and it took them two half days to
remove the tree. They filled up two huge trucks with the branches and trunk and
it was to be disposed of in a way to prevent and chance of spreading Dutch Elm
disease. It was kind of dramatic and exciting since I had never seen anything
like that before. The crew was very professional and then it was all
over.
I
had a very strong emotional response to this event.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm6f7mPbtELHX2uitFw1WnVLtOigKpMR0FKA1B-GwwLEZuwunlADdXA1ePaQ7mN7sdkcCXfiWZTFT6vy9WBwfzHRr4HirhDDPywWIHuan4LfuvDeOc-U6WfKnWTaoYybRpb8O-1E8AXa0/s320/tree5.jpg)
We
told the grandkids that the tree they were playing under the previous weekend
was now gone. On their next visit our 6-year-old grandson and 3-year-old granddaughter got out of
the car and ran over to the stump and stood on it. It became the little girl’s
personal stage. She sang out in her clear little voice a joyful "tree song" that
she made up.
The
city will eventually plant a new small tree on the boulevard. Perhaps my
grandchildren will see it grow into a proud stately tree.
5 comments:
Great post, Linda! Seeing a long-standing tree come down like that can be distressing, even for someone in perfect health.
Remember the big evergreen in front of my parent's house? It hadn't been standing as long as yours, but I remember when Mom planted it. It took over the whole front yard but it was still sad when Dad had it taken down.
Like you said, it would be nice if your grandkids can watch the new tree grow over time, too. :)
I can just imagine a little 6 year old girl dressed in a shorts outfit standing tall on that stump as if it were a stage. She must have been adorable.
Beautiful post. Especially the part about identifying with a tree. I totally get it.
When I saw the title I was worried... since that is how they described a stroke to me when I had it. But you are talking a literal lightning strike! I think the trust in ourselves is truly shaken after a stroke, it is like we are the same... but different. (I know, dumb sounding) We make mistakes. We made 'em before the stroke, we will make new ones after. I hate the randomness of my mistakes, like out of the blue and not the kind I would ever EVER make pre-stroke. But I am alive, and this is my new life. Linda, this is an amazing story.
I found your website through a random stroke of luck. It helped me do my research on this topic. I have spent lots of time looking through your site. You have something good going here, keep it up!
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