Tree stories

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Ah, How beautiful they are! I'm sitting here thinking about how wonderful trees are, instead of doing what I should be doing:~}Of all the things God created, I think trees are the best, they give so much; food, shelter, heat, clean the air, shade and all those leaves to play in or put in the garden. I love to see those huge trees out in the middle of a field. And they're strong enough to bend.

Does anyone have a story to tell about a tree, maybe an unusual one, some wonderful memory, maybe someone was married under a special tree?

-- Cindy (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), December 05, 2000

Answers

Response to Trees

Cindy, I agree with you, trees are one of God's most beautiful creations, along with flowers, and birds and on and on! He certainly is awesome, isn't he? I do not have a story to tell about trees unless it would be how I used to love to climb trees as a child. We have over 45 acres of woods and I often look at the large oak trees that have been here for many many years and wonder who may have sat under that very tree years ago. Maybe Indians, maybe Daniel Boone, who knows!!!!! Maybe a homesteader!!!

-- bwilliams (bjconthefarm@yahoo.com), December 05, 2000.

Response to Trees

We have a 70 ft hickory that is about 10 ft off our porch. Last year while trimming limbs, we noticed something metal in a limb with some initals by it. Had to trim the limb anyway because of disiese, so I dug it out. It was a small muleshoe. The man we bought from said once there was a clubhouse where we were trimming about 40 years ago and maybe the kids then put it up and the tree grew around it.

-- Jay Blair (jayblair678@yahoo.com), December 05, 2000.

Response to Trees

This falls more into the humor category, but it does concern a tree....We now own the farm my dh grew up on. He was a rather outgoing, risk taking child - to the point that by the time he was 3, his mother often resorted to tying him to the clothesline to keep him out of trouble. When he was around 9, his mother decided one day that a huge tree on their property needed to be topped, so she sent my dh's dad up the tree with a saw. Now, this fellow wasn't a coward by any means (had many WWII medals for bravery) but he got up there high enough in that tree that he was getting nervous. Mom told him he had to go higher, so up he went. When he stopped again, she insisted he had to go still higher. Finally he stopped and flatly refused to move any higher. When he started to make his cut, carved there in the trunk were my dear dh's initials. : ) The tree still stands in our yard, but I haven't gone up to see if the initials are still there.

-- Lenette (kigervixen@webtv.net), December 05, 2000.

Response to Trees

My grandfather had a large pear tree in his backyard. In the summer he would carve our names in the green fruit. When we would go there for Christmas we had our own personal fruit and we could not ever unsderstand how the letters could grow into the pears. It was always one of the highlites of our time with them. What a wonderful memory, thank you for asking. Ada

-- Aagje Franken (Backyardy2k@aol.com), December 05, 2000.

Response to Trees

"The wonder is we can see these trees and not wonder more" ralph waldo emerson

-- sharon wt (wildflower@ekyol.com), December 05, 2000.


Response to Trees

I like mesquite trees. A lot of people think of them as little more than weeds but I love them. When I was a kid growing up we had over 600 acres of beautiful North Texas prairie and the only trees we had were mesquite trees. When I would go hunting in the blazing summer the only shade I could find was under the mesquite trees and I would sit there and eat the beans and rest and cool off. So I like mesquites.

Now, I make things on my wood lathe and my favorite wood to work with is, of course, mesquite. It's beautiful wood.

-- Joe (jcole@apha.com), December 05, 2000.


Response to Trees

My favorite tree was an oak right outside my bedroom window. The night of Hurricane Hugo, my two year old son woke me up, he was sick and couldn't go back to sleep. He wanted to watch tv in the living room, he had never wanted to do that before in the middle of the night. I gave in, since he was sick. We both feel asleep on the floor in the living room. I awoke to sounds I had never heard before, nor do I want to hear again. A few minutes later, there was a big crash in my bedroom. That beautiful tree fell on the house. The ceiling, rafters and all crashed down on my bed. The Lord was watching over us as always.

-- Lena(NC) (breezex4@go.com), December 05, 2000.

Response to Trees

We have a huge Norway Spruce in our yard,east corner of the house and Norway Maples at the other 3,the spruce is about 6 stories high and just grand. We believe from talking to the former owners this tree was planted at Christmas about 150-160 yrs. ago. The former owner now in his late 80's remembers it as always being big and his mother telling him her granfather planted it as a gift to his family.the top has broken out of it 2x because of high winds so it should be taller,we have friends that climb trees for a living and my dream is to have them climb it and put a star on top. You would beable to see it for miles,but imagin the extension cord!. So many people have asked us why we do not cut it down because it leans towards the road, I think I could never do it,if it falls so be it.The history that tree has must be incredible. If anyone knows about the civil war there were twin brothers that fought in it ,THe Parrish boys, well they lived here but the really odd thing is 1 fought for the South and 1 for the North. The cabin in the back field belong to the one who fought for the south, the other brother lived here and eventuly died here the day after his twin. You can learn so much by asking about a tree, the bring back the memories.

-- renee oneill{md.} (oneillsr@home.com), December 05, 2000.

Response to Trees

Lena, that's awesome.

-- Cindy (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), December 05, 2000.

Response to Trees

Cindy: I have 11 acres of thick pines and I can't imagine living outside a forest. But here in California their is a tree of all trees! The REDWOOD!! A 2000 year old giant is a thing to behold. I'm planting one next to my stone house to see which will last the longest. Ha. By the way, remember Julia Butterfly who lived in the redwood for two years to stop the logging company from cutting it down? Some moron took a chain saw and probably ruined it!!! Breaks my heart.....Kirk

-- Kirk Davis (kirkay@yahoo.com), December 05, 2000.


Response to Trees

I heard about that too, Kirk. They're trying to stabilize the tree, but now it's vulnerable to wind, and probably insects. >:-{

My Grandma (who lived next door to us) had a wonderful white pine in her back yard. Because it stood by itself, it didn't lose it's lower limbs, and so we could climb right up it when we were fairly young. The branches grew fairly close together and we were often almost "held" in place by them. I spent a lot of happy hours in that tree. So did my sister, and I thought, my brother. But when he eventually got the house, he cut our tree down. I still mourn that tree.

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), December 06, 2000.


Response to Trees

See if your local library can get you a copy of "Red Oaks & Black Birches: The Science and Lore of Trees" by Rebecca Rupp. Very interesting book.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), December 06, 2000.

Response to Trees

I was able to get to see a timber size American Chestnut,back in the early '80's.It was abt 16"dbh and 3+ logs,or maybe 80'tall.Seeing this tree,I really was able to comprehended the teriffic lost this tree posed, when it was virtually eliminated by chestnut blight,from our eastern forests. This one was pretty impressive,even to a seasoned woods worker, and it was just a "baby".Notice the size of old chestnut stumps in the woods,those babies must have been a sight to behold.

The tree grows straight and clear, like a tulip poplar.Most you run across in the woods are stump sprouts of maybe 15 to 20 years of age, newborns,really.They blight and die bf they get very big.

Chestnut was great to work for woodworking, had great insect resistance for posts and building and provided a great mast crop for wildlife every year,rather than every other year like most oaks.Livestock fed on them as well.A Great Tree.

Ok now the good news-American Chestnut Society has developed a blight resistant 99% genetically accurate Am. Chestnut.It grows like the original.It is a few years away from availability, and is a Virginia genotype.They are now looking for Mother Trees in other parts of the country.Trees big enough to seed.They will also be putting out some of their Am. chestnut seedlings and seeds, on a few very select sites.Society Members will be at the top of the list.Some states have chapters,VA,KY and PA do I know.I'll look up the Society info if anyone is interested in the American chestnut,and please let me know if you know of a Mother Tree in your area.I'll get the info to them.

-- sharon wt (wildflower@ekyol.com), December 06, 2000.


Response to Trees

Sharon, what do you mean by "mother trees"? I know you said big enough to seed, and I understand that, but are these supposed to be the blight resistant variety? Just any old chestnut, blight resistant or not? A friend knows of a chestnut that produces the nuts (seeds), but I don't know anything more about it, though I probably could find out. I know it produces the nuts, she showed me some of them. Prickly things!

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), December 06, 2000.

Response to Trees

Joy-they are looking for any american chestnut that is producing seed.They need to collect and establish genotypes from other parts of the country to incorperate into their breeding program,so that down the road they can hopefully offer you something that will more likely do good in your area,as opposed to one developed for back east,for example.It will be like different varieties.These are not grafted trees they are working on but seedlings.Or may be seeds,bc apparently the seedlings don't transplant well.All this has to be worked out step by step, bc there is no silviculture knowledge for Am. chestnut.It was pretty well gone by the time silviculture came along.

The trees are just given that name, mother trees.They want only American, not chinese or crosses,but they are going to test any that they are questionable anyway, so do let me know and I can pass on the info.

It's pretty exciting to me bc I've been waiting for a viable Am. chestnut for 20 years.I hope they will put some on my farm!

-- sharon wt (wildflower@ekyol.com), December 07, 2000.



Response to Trees

Thanks, Sharon, I've contacted my friend. I'll let you know what, if anything, I find out about that tree.

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), December 07, 2000.

Response to Trees

Cindy, about the only story I can think of is this: My wife & I live on my wife's Great Aunt's farm. The farm was where she (Great Aunt) was born & raised. There is a huge beech tree in the field that year by year was dying more & more. The strange thing is that the year the Great Aunt died was the year the tree finally gave up too. The top blew out quite a while ago but I would hate to cut it down, so it is just rotting away slowly year by year. Great Aunt always talked about the beech tree so I guess we just leave it standing there as a memorial to her.

-- Michael W. Smith (KIRKLBB@PENN.COM), December 10, 2000.

Response to Trees

Hi Cindy, Like your idea about tree stories. When I was younger than 9, I was an only child, so spent many a day swinging on the large pine tree, always had my invizible friend on my shoulder. I know sounds silly to have a make believe friend, but I did. Now I have three boys who love to climb trees. We have one spruce tree in our yard, over by the chicken coop. It was planted by their grandfather when their dad was very young. He actually planted several but only one has survived so we will not take it down. It is a very sturdy tree. Every year the hummingbirds nest there as well as robins. We also have a 25 acre woodlot where we cut our winters wood. We use only the dead or dyeing. It is a great place to walk and look around I wish we could live there but no money to build with sure slows a person down. Well thanks for letting me rattle on. Michelle

-- michelle (tsjheath@ainop.com), December 10, 2000.

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