A few weeks ago I posted about the best damn tree in T County coming down. Last week, right before Christmas, the tree finally came down. I am very bittersweet about it and have not yet decided if I’m happy or not that I was not there to see it. I probably would’ve ended up crying like a baby, but in a way it would’ve been nice to say goodbye. I know that the next time I visit T County I will have difficulty recognizing my back yard.

In memory, here are some pictures of the beautiful pin oak. It will truly be missed. As you can see we have another large oak tree in our front yard, but it is not quite as large as the one that came down.

My parents have a wonderful house. It’s a gorgeous three story red brick with a lot of old charm that was built in the early 30′s. However, it’s not just the house itself that makes it so wonderful. In addition to that they have two gorgeous huge oak trees – one in the front yard and one in the back. The oak tree in the front yard is tall and pretty old. The one in the back is just breathtaking though. It’s over 100 feet tall and just towers over the yard and the driveway. It’s estimated that it’s at least 100 years old (older than the house itself). My dad thinks the trunk is about 4 feet wide and I wouldn’t be surprised.

Earlier this year (late winter/early spring) one of the limbs started to split. A cable was put in to try and brace the tree and hopefully help it heal back together. Unfortunately this did not work. Several contractors have determined that it’s not going to heal and when that limb breaks, the whole tree is going to die. The arborist for my parents city also came over and gave it a look, and sadly enough, came to the same conclusion, so we know it’s the truth. Waiting for it to die risks it falling and causing major damage. If that tree fell over, it could easily take out a few houses and a road.

I am so upset over this. I am actually glad in a way I won’t be visiting when the tree comes down next Thursday. It has so many memories and gives my parents house, which is where I spent most of my time growing up, a ton of character. It could easily be one of the tallest and oldest trees still standing in a city within the county. When it comes down we will be able to get a more accurate estimate of exactly how old it is.

Even sitting here writing this, I am seriously almost in tears. This was the tree that caused several acorn storms in the driveway. This is the tree that gave us squirrel families that played in our yard and our trees for many years. One time a good family friend just randomly showed up and hung a tire swing in that tree. It was a great tree to sit under outside in the shade and watch whatever game was happening in our backyard. I think the tree was probably one of the features that drew my parents to the house in the first place.

When it comes down, there will be a lot of wood… probably tons, literally. My dad will have to do work grinding the stump and taking out a good portion of it also. There is definitely an agreement to do something special with the wood. However, the cost of not only transporting it but turning into boards to use might be costly. If nothing else, I want a piece of that tree.

Here is a picture of the top of the tree when they were putting the cables in earlier this year. On the upper right hand corner, you can see the drain that is on the top of the 2nd floor/bottom of the attic to show you how tall it is… and that’s not even the top.

I spent awhile this year hoping I could find a live tree for Christmas. I came to the realization that I would have to travel a distance if I would want to cut one down like I normally do, and settled for the fact that I would realistically have to pick one out of a parking lot.

It came down to the weekend after Thanksgiving, when I usually pick out my tree. It was warm and sunny and beautiful out. It just didn’t feel like Christmas. I tried to put on some Christmas music. . . that didn’t help. Then I attempted to dress like it was Christmas, and that didn’t help either. Finally I decided I might just try a new tradition here, and while that seems slightly bittersweet, it’s also a little exciting.

One of my friends offered me a small (4 ft) pink tinsel tree. This tree is incredible. It even has a pink electrical cord. I opted to run with it. I found my older small snowman angel tree topper as my Rainbow Brite angel would more than likely cause the tree to topple over. I put on some of my favorite ornaments. Once it was up it was just too low to the ground so I put it on top of a rubbermaid bin that contained my decorations. Over that I put my enormous tree skirt which due to the size of the tree looks like a piece of fabric I bought to cover the bin. My nativity scene and other items are all up as well.. everything except my typical household decorations (those will come in the next week or so).

Alas, here are some pictures of the tree and of my house (don’t mind the random boxes and clutter and lack of items on the wall).