The giving tree

Sadly, we lost another white oak this year. We noticed its leaves turning a crusty brown early this Summer while the surrounding tree canopies were a thriving green. The tree lies on our property on what we call "the triangle" and precariously leans over the power lines above two gravel roads; one of which has alot of traffic. About a month ago we contacted the power company to cut the tree down to use for our siding, but they declined our request. Instead, they politely pruned all the insignificant small branches off the top, leaving the rest for a "qualified tree service company." Well, that would be us.

Todd decided to take the tree down last Saturday with the help of Uncle Sam and his powerful green tractor…The plan was to have Sam tension the tree with his John Deere while Todd cut into the trunk with his chainsaw to direct the fall. Mind you, my uncle has been in this situation before with my dad when they decided to take down a tree that stood too close to my parents house. Things didn't go as plan and this was the aftermath....We knew Sam was a bit nervous about the power lines and rightfully so, we were too. As Willy said, it didn't give him the "warm and fuzzies."First, Todd suited up in his climbing gear and went up the tree with Sam's chain and the high tension tow strap. Willy and Sam helped and watched from below. Once the tree was tensioned, Sam climbed into the tractor and Willy and I stood far away to watch as Todd revved up the chainsaw. I stood in the road and waved to people driving by and thought about what would happen if the tree went the wrong way and ended up on the power lines. I normally don't worry too much about Todd. He's very calculated and confident about chainsawing and taking down trees, but this one made me nervous. Horse trailers, work trucks, neighbors and all those Saturday errand runners were slowing down as I stood off to the side of the road with my camera. Todd started cutting but didn't get too far. His chain was annoyingly dull and he was pressed for time since Sam had to leave. We decided it would be best to hold off until we had more time and a new chain. It certainly wasn't worth the rush.

Around 3:00 that afternoon Sam came back over and we went back to the tree. Todd cut into the trunk with his new chain as Sam pulled and tensioned the tree from the field. I stood in the road again with the camera and watched as Todd pulled his chainsaw out of the trunk, stood back, waved Sam to go, and with a swift pull, the tree fell. Everything went exactly as planned. What a relief. I missed the opportunity to snap any action photos or videos. I wanted a bigger view than my viewfinder would give and honestly I wasn't even thinking about taking photos when the moment came. So, it's down and the power lines are still up. We're all relieved that it went smoothly.

Rings were counted and we estimate that the oak was about 260 years old. According to my dad, this is the approximate age of Loudoun County. And speculation has it, Indians were stirring in our woods (my dad has found arrow heads on the property) and George Washington was galloping by with General Braddock around that time. I've witnessed a number of trees come down and it's incredible. The ground shakes and you are reminded of just how insignificant and young you really are. The trunk was measured and cut into 10 foot lengths for the Woodmizer. We spent Sunday sawing up the tree and plan to put the boards up on our house this weekend.