Both of my camera batteries were dead this morning, so I took this shot with my cell phone. That blurry, out of focus, picture should at least give you an idea of the subject of today’s post.
Back in September, 2008, Hurricane Ike left us with a lot to clean up. We had no damage to our home, but there were lots of downed and damaged trees. We concentrated our cleanup efforts on the front yard, but one of the most spectacular effects of the storm was what happened to a big oak tree in the back.
Oaks, with their thick trunks and shallow root systems, typically suffer broken limbs or they are totally uprooted by high winds. This tree snapped off leaving a 20 foot stump!
The storm left a bare trunk standing 20 feet tall. The diameter was more than twice the length of the bar on my chain saw, so even if I had cut all the way around it, I might not have been able to bring it down. We had too much else to worry about – too much that I could accomplish – so I decided to leave it for later.
Later came yesterday afternoon.
Entirely on its own, and for no apparent reason, that big trunk fell over. It left me with a lot of rotten wood to dispose of, but it broke off smoothly, and even with the ground.
Sometimes, procrastination pays off.
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