Remember these? From my favorite crabapple tree on the lilac side of the lawn about 8 or 9 feet from the road?
We won’t be seeing them again.
On Tuesday, a guy on a tractor was clearing the brush on the side of the road. There is a culvert that needs to be kept clear and once a year or so, someone clears any excess brush. I suppose the County contracts these jobs out. This guy was going back and forth along the edge of our property and the property of our neighbor to the left. He was out there a long time, and I started getting concerned about what he was doing. By the time I went outside, he was ready to move on. Don reassured me, saying “They’re just trying to keep the culvert free. It’s okay.”
Later, when I went out to investigate, I discovered that he’d taken down this tree, as well as a small fir tree. On OUR property, not the county’s. This tree was 6 feet in from the inside edge of the culvert, which makes it at least 8 feet from the road. (I measured it with a tape measure.)
I couldn’t believe my eyes. I kept hoping I was wrong. But as soon as I saw pieces of the trunk on the ground, I knew I was wrong.
They took my tree.
I went in the house and told Don, who was furious. I immediately called the County and reported it. And Don called them yesterday to report it. They supervisor is going to investigate.
Meanwhile, I am sick at heart. I cried on Tuesday. I cried off an on yesterday. This was my favorite of all the crabapple trees on the property and it was also the first one I ever discovered. I really loved it. It was a living thing and now it’s gone. I wish I’d gone out there earlier so I could have stopped it. I feel like I failed that tree.
That, coupled with the news, the hearings – everything – took me to a dark place yesterday. I’m still there. I am mourning the loss of that tree; gone because some idiot with a machine was careless. My tree – not the county’s – is gone.
I couldn’t summon the energy to write a post yesterday. I’m crying as I write the post today.
Stay safe.
Happy Thursday.
