Kim @ Frog Ponds Rock hosts the Sunday Selections meme. A chance to take out and share some of the many photos you have stored on your computer and never get around to publishing.
Behind these photos is a story, as there is with most photos I suppose. It goes something like this. Once we had a tree, a very, very tall tree - a Eucalyptus nicholli, it was very straight and had a huge trunk. Underneath this tree we had planted ferns and azaleas - all which flourished in it's shade. It was a very, very big tree, planted in our garden just as a small seedling which, like Jack's bean stalk, grew and grew and grew.
It had been in our garden for around 11-12 years when in early August 2001 a freak storm blew through our suburb, randomly demolishing trees and taking roofs of houses. Our rather large tree was uprooted. Thats right, it didn't snap it, it uprooted it. It fell backwards through our back fence and into our neighbour's yard narrowly missing their pool and their house.
It was a portent of what was to come in the month to follow ... my father in law's unexpected death, my grand-daughter's life changing car accident, and all the changes that follow on from such life changing events.
Apologies for the photos - they were taken with a very old pre-digital camera.
The stump being craned over the top of the house as it was too large to chop up.
great blog. Following from frogspond. The tree root system really shows the power and energy of nature doesn't it.
ReplyDeleteWow!
ReplyDeleteI'd think the preceding drought years had affected the roots to the point where they dried and died enough to no longer stabilise the tree.
@kebeni, thanks for coming over to visit. It was one freaky storm to take this tree out. Very powerful indeed.
ReplyDelete@ River, thanks for stopping by and commenting. This was back in 2001 so no real drought years to speak about, and the tree was only 18 feet from underground water which is why it grew so tall. What happened according to the tree guy was, we have very strong easterly winds here about 10 months of the year, so the root system grew mainly on the eastern side of the tree to stop if from blowing over. The freak storm came from the west where there were a lot less roots. This freak storm took out a whole lot of large eucs in the neighbourhood. They all fell in an easterly direction.
There is something eerie about tree roots. They don't belong above ground and they know it. Gives me the same creepy feeling I get when I see a big ship in dry dock.
ReplyDeleteThey make a mess when they go, don't they? My Mum had a large tree fall on her stables and hay shed, totally destroyed the lot.
ReplyDeleteAh .. how sad. I remember the year we had the hurricane here in England when hundreds of mature trees were uprooted and tossed around like matchsticks. And sad also that for you it was the beginning of a difficult time for your loved ones.
ReplyDeleteA most interesting series of pictures for today. I'm wondering how the ferns and azaleas fared after their shade was gone ..
Well, I guess the best thing is that it didn't destroy your neighbour's house. I'm sorry it marked the beginning of a sad time for your family.
ReplyDeleteSad it came down like that but so lucky no one was hurt and I'm sorry to hear it was the beginning of life-changing events in your family.
ReplyDeleteThat is a huge tree, how sad that it fell down, although I'm glad it didn't cause more damage.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry to hear about the hard times that followed its fall.
@mybabyjohn - yes there is something eerie about tree roots and the force of nature that can uproot such a solid tree.
ReplyDelete@Kim - there was a fair bit of clean up to do.
@Jay - The ferns and azaleas were moved into pots, most of the azaleas survived and are still in pots 10 years later.
@Carolina - Yes I don't think they would have forgiven us if it had destroyed their house or pool - then fence they were okay with.
@Gaby @Marita - yes the impact of those events are still being felt now as my grand-daughter has a brain injury that has left her learning impaired but she is still alive which is something we are all grateful for.
Thanks everyone for your supportive comments