250 Years Ago

It was 1764.  Native American Indians were the prime inhabitants of the Ohio area but the American and French had started moving west.  From the 1750's to the early 1800's there was a clash of power between the Native Americans who had lived on this land and the new settlers from the east.  The United States of America did not exist; that would come almost 20 years later through the American Revolutionary War.  Once the US of A was formed, we had yet to recognize George Washington as the first President; that would come 25 years later.  And it wasn't until nearly 40 years after that that Ohio officially became a state...

..but around 1764 there was a little seed that sprouted from the ground.  It surpassed all the other seedlings and fought over the next 250 years to capture sunlight, water, and nutrients to grow strong, tall, and healthy.  It would later become known as an American Linden or Basswood, a native tree to this area.  It lived through rain, snow, sun, sleet, and hail; historic summers, falls, winters, and springs.  It provided shade for generations of children to run beneath, homes for other animals, branches to perch on.  It grew and grew and grew and competed with other trees around to become one of the oldest standing trees in the area.  In 1764, that little seedling began its 250 year life in our backyard.

250 years later.

When we moved into our house back in 2010, we learned that this tree was in decline.  We spoke to arborists, we injected it with some magic solution, we spoke to more arborists, but each subsequent year it had several more branches that just didn't leaf out.  In addition to its decline, it had a severe lean right over top of our house.  Having an old 250 year old declining tree leaning over your house is a little unnerving.  So, despite our best efforts to save this monstrous tree, we decided to have it removed.

Before and after from the front.

Before: Leaning over the house.

Before: That tree top loomed directly over our bedroom.

X marks the spot.  As if there were several 250 year old trees in our
backyard...only one to our knowledge...

Jack wonders what tree he will chase squirrels around now.

After: No more looming...and no more squirrels.

All logs 'a loaded!

And we are left with a stump...

Kate wonders where we put our tree.
Did they hide it underneath??

What we saw and what we now see when we look up.

The arborists were loading the last of the tree limbs when Kate and I got home.  They told us that one of them was up in the tree from about 9:30 am until 1:30 pm getting all the limbs cut down.  When we asked them if they thought we could've done anything else to save it, they said no and that the tree was so rotten inside that the wood was soft instead of hard.  When Kate and I felt it, you could even feel the softness.  They said that the tree had been rotting well before the time that we moved in and that ants had damaged it as well.  Kate and I inquired about the age of the tree with them too.  It was so rotten inside that we couldn't even see the tree rings to count to determine the exact age, but the specialists estimated that it was, "at least 250 years old".

It amazes me to think that a tree in our backyard had been around that long.  Putting it into perspective really emphasizes how young the United States of America really is.  We just cut down a tree that was here before this country was even a country!  (At least according to the arborists.)  Blasphemy!

Nonetheless, the leaning tree is no more.  In a few days, the arborist team will come back and grind the stump.  And in a few months, hopefully we have a nice patch of grass where our old tree used to grow.  We are not without worry, but it is very relieving to know that the tree that loomed over top of us does not pose any more danger with high winds, or gentle breezes for that matter!

UPDATE
The stump grinders came and ... grinded the stump.  Shocking, I know.

It was actually pretty cool!

Kate and I watched from the second floor!

We are now left with a pile of wood chips in our yard.  Hopefully we'll have another update on those soon!

UPDATE II
The tree mulch has officially been removed.  We are 100% tree-less.

Any bets on how long it'll take for grass to grow?!

And here is our final before and after:

So long, tree.  You will be missed.