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Does it still make a sound? That has been the question asked by philosophers and scientists for years, yet I have yet to hear their answers. Another thing that I didn't hear is the sound of an enormous section of our precious Tangled Oak that sits directly behind the dogs' pen come down. I was out with Skittles and Patches on one of our frequent walks yesterday when I happened to glance into their pen (which they refuse to use) and see something new and extraordinary. Years ago I was out with them in July when I heard a sound like small fireworks, "Craaack, craaack". Skittles, as usual, began barking at the noise, and when I turned around to look at him I saw why he was barking: a huge part of the dead section of our oak was disconnecting itself from the main trunk and falling down. As it fell, it hit the limbs below it and cracked them off as well. It managed to hit the chain link fence in places, bending it, and left a pile of dead wood on the ground distributed between the woods in the tree line and our back lawn. It was a shock, and I was grateful that the dogs hadn't been anywhere near there when it fell. In the days to follow, my husband went out to inspect the scene. He made an attempt to clear the lumber away, but the heaviness of it made such an attempt futile.
Now, as if to remind us of our meekness in the world of nature, another huge section of the oak had left the primary trunk. I only noticed it by chance when I turned around to contemplate what kind of landscaping I would do there if I could move around. And then it hit me: ANOTHER CHUNCK HAD COME OFF! The color of old wood, like the original tree, was replaced by the color of new. The pieces that had fallen years ago, that were covered with generous green foliage, were now covered by the wood from the new limbs. There could be no mistaking the fact that something new had fallen. A closer look revealed the scar where the branch had let go. More amazing was the fact that now a real hole had been created in the original trunk that let me look right through it to the tree line beyond! My reaction was one of shock and dismay. This was something that had just happened. So why didn't I hear it? Surely something that big and heavy should have made noise when it broke off and landed. Yet it didn't. It simply remained as a silent reminder of its mysterious power. In addition to that surprise, I felt sadness that our precious Tangled Oak should be coming to an end. It was truly the center of attention in the back yard to all who visited. I could point out that the name of our place was "TANGLED" Oaks because of the hands-over-hands arrangement of the dead and living branches. Now the dead hands were falling away. Why was this occurring? Apart from a recent storm with winds high enough to bring down a tree out front, there had been no meteorological events capable of so savagely attacking the big oak and so cruelly dismembering it. What was going on? Events that are passed off casually by many people tend to hit me hard. When lightning brought down a limb on the mysterious flowering tree, I felt bad for the birds that lived in the nest that was a casualty of the event. Where would they go now? Would they come back here next year? And what about the many squirrels that had made their home in the huge old oak? Where would they make new nests for the babies that would come next spring? Were these events just foreshadowing the inevitable demise of the grand old tree? Or was it simply nature's way of pruning out the dead wood out so that the living sections could grow better? Or was it the beginning of the end, the process by which all living things begin to die. Is it the time to take photographs so that in the years ahead we can remember it in its former grandeur? Or just stop in to say "good bye"? Just Mom |
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