#blowdown

I’m glad I was absent at the time

This mangled bit of metal you see here is a ladder stand, used for hunting deer. It was one, anyway, until last week’s winds toppled the ash tree that supported the stand.

Following a two-day gale, I walked our woods, looking for blowdown that might be converted into firewood. I found some, all right, including two thirds of a triple-trunk that had served as one of my hunting perches.

The tree had seemed solid; the rot that weakened it was inside the trunk, near the ground.

A new batch of widowmakers

The recent windstorms have left new widowmakers in the trees.  I spoke with a young neighbor who was hit by one, and left with a gash in the back of his head – and was reminded that they aren’t all that easy to see when you are dropping a tree.  It is a reminder of the blessings of wearing a hard hat – but even that isn’t a perfect solution. Still wedged in the tree after nearly sixty years. A…