In April, the big tree in the middle of the back yard came down.

It was at least 40 years old. The branches spread over most of the back yard, rendering grass growing nearly impossible.

Squirrels nested high in its branches, and used the nearby tree limbs as an overhead highway.

My lawn was covered most of the year with the hard little brown leaves that these oak trees drop year round.

The roots knobbed up all over, tripping me if I wasn’t careful.

It’s sister tree broke in two a couple of year ago. In the dead of night, a huge thundering whoosh outside my window woke me.

Half the tree has cleaved off, fortunately landing away from the house, spanning across the fence and it’s lacing of confederate jasmine.

How that old fence held up, I’ll never know.

Late last year, we spent the afternoon at a nearby friends house, floating in their pool.

It was the beginning of an idea.

Covid sealed the deal.

We love to travel, and do it often. In the 15 years we’ve been together, we’ve gone all over the country…and on many cruises, and trips to Europe.

Grounded for over a year, we decided to get an in ground pool.

I knew this meant an end to the big tree in the middle of the yard.

I spent the days before the excavation looking up at the tree – standing at its trunk, gazing into the lattice of branches and leaves, squinting when the sun peaked through.

I ran my hand over the bark…I took pictures. I told the tree thank you.

I was sad when they took it down. First, the branches were pared off, leaving it barren, as if it had been stripped by a hurricane.

The next day, they dug up the root ball, and pushed the mighty trunk over.

Today, after a few laps in the pool, I floated for a while.

I studied the trees that run along the edges of our fence on two sides. I watched the squirrels come so far – and stop. I followed the birds as they flew overhead, and kept going – no place to stop in the middle. Dragonflies floated over. High, high up, a bird of prey glided easily on unseen wind currents.

Twenty years of my life, I spent time under that tree, and the sister tree whose unseen damage scored it in half one night.

Now, I spend my days floating in my hole in the ground.

And I remember the tree.

lol