A Time for Everything

THE tree came down yesterday. It's a 32 year old, 40 foot tall liquid amber that was the cause of our driveway reconstruction project. It was a majestic tree full of lush green leaves in the summer and golden red splendor in the autumn, and we mourn its loss. Indeed, our tree had already lost most of its "cousins" on this street as neighbors have taken them down to be replaced with more refined, less powerful substitutes.

You see, these trees never should have been planted in our small yards. They are just too massive and their root system just too invasive. Yet, despite the damage to our driveway and garage floor, it took us two years to get used to the idea that this incredible living thing was going to have to die at our hands.

To compound our grief, we must look at its stump for the next 3 to 6 months as the poison it's treated with spreads down into the roots. These trees are very tenacious and will grow anew from the roots, so we need to make sure that it is truly dead.

But to everything there is a season, and in its place, we will plant new life in the springtime. We are still deciding which tree will come home and share its life with us. The prospect is exciting and we look forward to a renewed front yard. But for now, we grieve.