09/22/2026
i lost an old friend today. probably close to a 200 year old friend. the land i live on has been in our family since the 1800’s and it is my legacy. my 200 year old friend is a 50’ oak tree that stood tall in my front yard. it housed our owls each year and many many baby owls were born it that tree! we watched each year as they grew and eventually left the nest. they’ve been with us for at least 16 years. each year when the acorns fell our dog would watch the squirrels gather their nuts and run back and forth from the window to the front door saying “ if you’ll just let me out”!!! i’ve cut poison ivy off of it several time to keep it from choking it out and help it thrive. it also slowed down the young kids that speed down our little country road at 50 mph!!! because it sits right on the road.
oh, how i’m going to miss this tree.
today during some of the fiercest winds we’ve encountered here at the farm my old friend went down. i think of how my mother could have played around this tree, how sam would tree the squirrels and our baby owls sitting in the crook of the huge limb with their huge eyes and fluffy hair.
man, i loved that tree.
i’ve tried to think of positives from today.
1. it did not fall on the house.
2. it did not fall on our vehicles.
3. no one was hurt.
4. the men that came and pushed it to
the side of the road were great.
good bye, old friend…
