Tree is down!

The tree is down! I took this photo from my front deck this morning. I probably should take a photo from the back deck so you can better see how close to the cabin the tree was. The photo doesn’t really show that the tree would most likely have fallen on the cabin if not directed to the side by Roundtop’s tree crew. You can still see how large the tree is, though. You can see that it was on a sloped area, but you also can’t see how steep the little mini-bank was that the tree grew out of.

I took a quick look at the stump yesterday when I got home, with an eye towards counting the rings. Darkness was already settling in, then, and I didn’t have much daylight, so I decided to wait. I will try to count them sometime over the weekend, after the 50mph winds that I am getting soon die down. Counting the rings will take some time. I might not be able to get an accurate count, partly because of the damage to the other side of the trunk and partly because of how the tree was cut. Given the size of the tree, I’m estimating it at 130-150 years old. I could see the blackened area in the center of the tree where it was damaged by fire a few years before I moved into my cabin.

So now, that’s one worry eliminated, though with 50 mph winds forecast for tomorrow afternoon, even a healthy tree could fall victim to that. I hope not. I know I won’t really rest easy until that wind calms down.