So Long Water Maple, It Was Good To Know You

 It seems everyone but me was caught by Covid. Here we are, thank the Lord, on the other side.  

Last year, when we were all stranded at home, I called the tree guy because I was worried about the big maple in my yard. I wonder how old she is.  I had already had her trimmed a long time back when Hurricane Ike and then a winter ice storm did some damage. 

 Anyway, the tree guy came and trimmed a couple of branches and told me she was fine.  I was glad. I imagine she's shaded this ol' house for over a hundred years.  She's been decorated, picnicked and storied under and made our porch the place to be when the heat elsewhere was overwhelming. 

We had a pop-up storm Thursday evening. I had already been out just to check on what was happening and it wasn't much, so went on back to bed.  Before I fell asleep I heard a big whomp.  I thought, "Surely that wasn't a tree."  I mean when you lose a whole tree in one fell swoop, the crack is loud and clear.  Still, I knew it was something. Back out and there she lay, across the yard and several flower beds. 

  So, I am a tree hugger and while I am all kinds of grateful to the Good Lord that it  missed the house and  my new AC unit by a hair, I still hated to see her go. So as we slowly started packing her off today, I shed a few tears. Drummer Boy came to help. It is so hot, and Handy Man is still in recovery from the virus, so it will take a few days. I also picked a lot of lichen to use to make dye. Lots of her will go right back into the ground round and about.