Saturday, September 4, 2010

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!

14 comments:

  1. Such a contrast from your post yesterday. Although the tone is somber at the loss of the elm trees, this lone tree has a beauty all its own. Survival!!

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  2. I think trees like this look so artistic.

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  3. Storm???? A little rain, a little wind. All threats, no action. Typical 24/7 cable news fear mongering! hahaha

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  4. It's strange, those feelings we can have for trees.. We can love them, speak to them, and feel sad for them. And miss them when they disappeared..

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  5. That is a sad picture and a sad story to go along with it.

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  6. A sad loss all those Elms across the country back then
    A lone tree against the sky is always beautiful.
    Working inside on scorching days simply cannot be much fun.
    BTW we seldom see temps in the 90s here although we have a couple of them this summer.
    I like the fire escape shadows.
    Another BTW: Kylee doesn't have any special boyfriend but she does have several friends that are boys. MB

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  7. Not sure but I think the same thing happened all over the United States. I remember the beautiful old elm trees around here that looked a lot like a wine glass when mature. Their outline. And they got the Dutch Elm Disease and died. And there were a few that withstood it and survived and it was or is those that were used to make modern elm trees. You can buy them at the nursery now and they are immune to the Dutch elm disease.

    Here is the reply I left on My Brookville Journal in response to your question about the "race"

    Reply to Birdman...

    The race is the canal. It came from the pond and was dug by school boys for 50 cents a day. Hand dug. Lots of work. The canal for mills was called a "race."

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  8. Good to hear about the survivors. Beautiful silhouette.

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  9. I love your post; you capture that scene so eloquently.

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  10. I remember the Dutch Elms creating a canopy over the streets. Really magnificent and elegant trees. I often think of them.

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  11. I have so sad feeling when I see a dead tree, but your picture is excellent, the silhouette is very impressive!Wonderful composition!
    Léia

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