We have a small parcel of timber behind the house that has seen ebbs and flows in management over the years. Between storms and beavers… I clean up the messes left behind, and that will dictate for a season how manicured the timber is.
Through all of our years living at La Finca… There has been one constant until 2006… A giant Oak behind the house that has stood guard over a trail that eventually takes you to Mud Creek.
The tree is substantial. It’s a multi-trunked oak that has grown to proportions that seem to defy gravity. The sheer weight of this beast as the two sides pulled from each other, always left me in amazement… But it has also left me wondering when the time will come that I have to deal with its death.
These last two years have been that time. Last year, the north side trunk cracked and fell. Just like when it was in the air, it still looks majestic lying on its side. It’s massive, and the scale grows even larger when you see it up close and on the ground.
I knew the one side falling was going to be the harbinger of a second loss in the near future… And this weekend’s storms were the catalyst. I went out to mow the grass on Wednesday night after my County Board meeting and saw an extremely vacant space in my back woods. As I got closer, I knew what had happened… I was now looking at two giant remnants of my favorite tree lying on the ground in opposite directions.
It’s sad. It’s now terrible looking, and its going to be a lot of work. Sad in the fact that its another sign of age. The tree has grown a crack between the trunks over the last decade and before it broke, I could see the inevitable coming. I have been content to let the first half fall as it landed away from the house towards more timber. This other half is now blocking my existing paths through the woods and will have to be dealt with.
Its more than my Stihl Farmboss or Yanmar tractor can handle… So, I may end up calling reserves. Anyone buy fallen Oaks?
Below are some photos I havce taken over the years of the tree.
This last photo was from 2015 when we were walking around out the woods… Summer was always a fun muse for nature pics.
