Dead Tree

Etching you a few words against a gray sky this morning. A tree like this always reminds me of the plague of Dutch Elm disease that attacked Portland in the 60s. On Stevens, I remember probably 50 or 60 elms that the Park Dept. took down in one stretch... in one day. It was so sad to see the red Xs on the trees lining the Avenue. I mean they took them ALL down. Painful! Portland was and still is the Forest City for crying out loud! When I caught site of this vacant tree yesterday, I recalled that day of screaming chainsaws and large chunks of elms scattered across lawns. I sat on our front porch, ate my peanut butter and jelly sandwich and watched the destruction. For years after, you could find sawdust along edges of the street and sidewalks. A sad requiem!