when trees fall

[15_the_circle]

[OT from cottage renovations]

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)

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the Circle

this tree came down between houses, without damaging either one. 

     

7^th Avenue

it fell along this walkway. 

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Brown Street

     
tree and wires are down; the latter can't be strung again until that leaning pole is fixed

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somebody got word from the power company that service might be restored in another day and a half.  rain is down to an occasional spatter and the gusts are now peaking at 40 mph rather than 50, a welcome trend that we're hoping will continue.  it we can keep the rest of our trees we will count ourselves as fortunate indeed. 

with power still operating in part of the Grove, it was odd last night to look out the front windows to see the contrast of electric light from across the Circle against kerosene light within. 

this entry comes to you by laptop and somebody's open access point, somewhere. 

Comments

[duccio.livejournal.com]

What a shame. I wonder if the trees could be staked with some kind of wires to help them resist the winds - that could be attached with collars and anchored to the ground in anticipation of these huge storms, then removed after the winds roll over. At least such a system might prevent a fall onto a house. The home owners were extremely fortunate - except for losing the beautiful trees.

At the Ferry Building in San Francisco, they have made benches, the legs and back of which are steel, while the seat part is huge logs cut in half. The varying sizes of the logs are fit into custom fit notches in the steel legs. Maybe some parts of the trunks could be made like that and used by the owners, or sold as benches, the proceeds used to get large new trees planted in the place of the fallen. Those oak trees should be realized to be very valuable assets, rather than garbage to be hauled away. Have a neighborhood meeting to discuss it. A combined effort set up might ease the problem in case more of the trees fall. A community situation can get behind new trees for all of their mutual benefit. Just a thought.

[15-the-circle.livejournal.com]

we have our own government and take our trees very seriously.  I don't know if there are many towns of our size who have a forester on retainer. 

there always a lot going on, not just through the forestry committee but also conservation easements and reforestation requirements (to replace any trees that are lost) on developments, etc.  I hope she doesn't mind my outing here in this space, but m_lightfoot serves on the Town Council and has forestry within her purview.  she sees to it that LOTS of trees get planted each year. 

[collpepper.livejournal.com]

Wow! So sad. Here you all are being inundated with all the rain and wind and we out here are looking at every cloud that passes hoping there is some rain in it. It's been an odd year. I wouldn't be surprised if were facing a drought...

[15-the-circle.livejournal.com]

the power is back, the wind has pretty much quieted down and the rain had actually pretty much passed through on Sunday; yesterday and today were just the occasional afterspatter.  sorry you're not getting enough out there, though.  weather seems to be like that: always too much or not enough. 

[djaza.livejournal.com]

Your user pic gave me a good laugh. Thanks.

[djaza.livejournal.com]

OMG, I hate to see that hugh tree fallen. It must be scary to think that they can come down like that in a storm. I remember when I lived in Marin Co. and some storms would bring trees down on cars and houses. It is amazing more people aren't killed that way.

[15-the-circle.livejournal.com]

our majestic tree canopy is a big part of what this place is all about.  but said canopy is made up of mature trees, which means that many are approaching or at end of life.  the forestry committee works to identify ones that are at risk and gets them taken down; that's just normal tree management, just like the efforts that are made to plant new ones. 

despite these efforts we lose large ones now and then, typically to ice storms or to summer storm microbursts.  a hurricane that came through here a few years ago cost us quite a few of the larger trees, incurring much structural and vehicular damage as they came down.  but houses can be fixed, vehicles replaced, and trees replanted.  I don't think it made anybody give up on living here, any more than earthquakes, brush fires and resultant flooding does in California. 

I share your astonishment: I can't recall anybody being injured or killed by a falling tree in the Grove.  and whenever one comes down I take the loss in a personal way for a long time, even though I also understand in a rational way that the hole it opens up to the sky facilitates the growth of others to fill it. 

[djaza.livejournal.com]

I am glad your trees are tended so carefully. I am not sure what kind of a community you live in, It sounds like a nature preserve. Whatever it is, it sounds delightful.
Where I am living now, LA, I often see people cutting down their trees. I don't know why, but it braks my heart. I feel like these trees are my relatives and I can't imagine WHY anyone would want to get rid of them. It is painful to say the least.