"Oh no! Look at Wyona's apple tree!"
Those were the words that drew my attention lakeward.
And yes, the tree was laying on the ground.
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While Glen and I stood looking at the tree, Bonnie went onto Greg's porch, knocked on his windows, on his doors, made noise going along the porch, trying to see if he were home or out on his daily 2 hour walk.
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How could this have happened?
We found bear scat, fresh bear scat within a few yards of the tree. |
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" No!" again from Bonnie. "The best apple tree on the property."
She took an apple in her hand.
"At least they are low enough to pick." |
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"Please take all you want," said Greg,
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"The fallen tree may be from the weight of the snow," said Glen.
As we had been walking from my place to his, we had stopped at 5 Corners
and looked down Pilling's Road.
"Dave Wood is going to be happy to see all of these fallen trees when he gets back," said Glen.
Without Glen bringing it to our attention, I wouldn't have seen all of the deciduous trees hanging over both sides of the road, bowed as though in a military arch.
"What has happened," questioned Bonnie.
"The leaves haven't finished falling. The roots just aren't strong enough for the weight of the snow that is on the leaves," explained Glen.
I have spent the days since the snowfall, enjoying the sight of the leaves that can fall, no longer floating down as they do in the late fall, but twirling with speed -- it must have been the weight of the snow on the leaves that I was noticing. |
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| "Are we going to be able to fix this," Greg asked? |
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 | | "If you can get the apples off, there is a possibility that the tree the tree can be uprighted," explained Glen, standing as he was with a broken scapula. I think that is the reason the pronoun was you and not we. |
Cruise, who thinks he is a human, has been following us from my house.
"I like that cat," Glen had said. "He does what cats are supposed to do. Mouse."
Soon Cruise was playfully running up and down the fallen trunk, in and out of the leaves and the apples and the bits of snow. |
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When we called Wyona to tell her the news, she asked, "Which way did the tree fall?"
Glen told her, "Down."
I would have said, "In the direction of Moiya's house.
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This is my poor attempt of giving Wyona a close-up of what the roots look when exposed.
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Arta
Ah... so many apples to pick. LOL at the direction of the fall. :-)
ReplyDeleteNow that the tree is down, it is time to take the apples off, so that it can be righted again, maybe held up with guy wires? How do I know. I just hope for the best apples to come back again next year.
ReplyDeleteHow do you know a bear did not push the tree over to get the apples? Ria
ReplyDeleteI am sure that the bear had access to the tree, for it left visible evidence to that fact. I would have thought "all bear" but Glen was there and he has been worrying about the weight of the snow on the leaves that haven't fallen. The way he talked, my guess is 75% weight on the tree (both ripe apples and snow on leaves) and then 25% bear. The bear didn't strip the tree as some bears (or one) have on the trees down on the 66 foot road. No apples even seemed to be gone. Maybe the bears are getting full.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the photo essay. What an adventure. Sad for the tree and those who enjoy its bounty. It will be an interesting experiment to see if the tree can be saved. Maybe next year, it will need to be stripped of all tiny apples so all the tree's energy can go into strengthening roots? I'm sure Glen will have the right advice.
ReplyDeleteI saw Cruise in that tree. Cruise pushed it down. Kill the bear and skin it.
ReplyDelete