The Big Oak

Here they are.  Pictures of the big oak.
  

Let me introduce you. 

She's big. 

When standing, her branches created shade for the majority of our front yard. 

She also provided shade for the yard across the street.

The guess is that she is 200+ years old. 

I think she was here with the dinosaurs. 

In the past five years that we have lived here, I've had several people tell me that this was their favorite tree in the neighborhood. 

She is definitely the biggest.  

Or, she WAS the biggest.
Round 1 of our 4 part storms on Wednesday took her out.
I was in the bathroom with Burl when she fell.
I remember going out to check on things.
Seeing that she fell, covered the yard, and spared homes, I was amazed.

I grabbed my phone, headed back to the bathroom, and grabbed Burl.

I had my freak out moment.
After tears and thoughts processed all that could have happened, I called John.

By then I was fine.
The neighbors came out.

And some strangers came out.
I made some jokes.

Heck, I'm still making jokes.

I have referred to it as:

our privacy fence

our new tree house

our natural light plan
our life long supply as firewood

and more

At this point, I'm really ok with the whole situation.  No one was hurt.  No houses were damaged.  The mini got some dings and scratches, but insurance will take care of that.
  


There were many people who were much more affected than us.  Some lost homes and loved ones.  We just lost an oak.  

And we gained 593 new friends.  I'm not sure that Christmas lights could draw this many people.