Gusty Wind, Miracles and Good-bye to a Beautiful Tree

Early Sunday morning, I began to receive a series of emails from the very capable woman who, with her now adult son, has been a long-term renter of the house where my ex-husband, young sons and I used to live in Montana.  At first, I wasn't quite sure what I was seeing, but it didn't look good.  At all.

As the day went on, the situation became clearer.  And, as I checked news reports from the area, I became more and more worried.  Sure enough, the branches that I was seeing belonged to MY tree, the beautiful blue spruce that our little family had planted in front of the house in the summer of 1976.  At the time, it wasn't more than a couple feet high.  In the course of nearly 35 years, it had become a beautiful, gorgeous blue spruce landmark, towering over the modest house.  "Towering" is the key word here, of course.  We probably should have been pruning the tree all along.

As my renter described things, they were seated inside the house Saturday evening when suddenly they heard a horrible crash.  They rushed out in the dark, as did all the neighbors, to find that half of the tree had been ripped from the trunk.  That half was lying partly in the neighbor's driveway but primarily in the main thoroughfare.  It had just - miraculously - missed hitting a traumatized young couple who were driving by in their car.  After a few minutes of taking stock, one neighbor called the police and others went to retrieve chainsaws and other woodcutting and chopping tools to get the street cleared.  (And yes, in Montana, chainsaws are generally standard equipment among neighbors.)  By the next morning, this is how things looked.

The city Parks and Recreation Department has been very busy these days, clearing up debris from trees felled by the violent winds of the weekend.  The hole in the remaining trunk of this tree was pretty impressive, however.

And mangled parts of the trunk lying on the ground were equally impressive.

Also miraculously, there did not appear to be any damage to the house, nearby structures or vehicles.  My renter kept repeating the story of how her granddaughter and the granddaughter's family, including three young children, had been parked in the spot where the tree fell, to leave for home only moments before.  !!

Given the list of the remaining section of the tree, another high wind could blow it over as well.  And given that our miracle allotment is likely used up right now, I had to make the decision to fell the tree.  It was easy on the one hand; I could not tolerate for a moment the idea that someone could be injured.  But, as one raised on the bleak and treeless high plains, it is always difficult for me to see any tree go, especially one as beautiful as this blue spruce.

Farewell Blue Spruce:  may your wood be used to warm many hearths, to make good furniture and housing or carved wood items!  May your branches disintegrate to provide good soil!  And however you return to this Earth, may you bring your miracles with you!  You provided nothing but pleasure during your existence and when you did finally succumb, you did it in a way that harmed no one.  If only we all could have such an epitaph!