Yesterday's Big Trees

In the city, they have defenders, these huge old cottonwoods do. Perhaps you remember that we had a few days of tree sitting at Willis and McCormick when officials planned to drop these creekside survivors. The tree sitters went away when it was decided to call in the experts for drastic surgery instead.

Problem, said the city, was that a big limb might fall any day, possibly injuring a car or pedestrian. Necessitating law suits, of course. Unfortunately, the patients died.

Out in the countryside life is far more Darwinian. As I walked through the brush from our car to the big picnic cottonwood down at the Santa Maria River crossing last weekend, I came across evidence of yesterday's big trees. Furthest gone was this mouldering ruin.

This fellow was still standing, but you can see fallen companions on either side. I wonder what was the cause: drought, insects, mistletoe (yes, I saw it for the first time on a cottonwood), man, old age. Who knows. But they do look of an age.

Now here's a true survivor. I did see one or two small branches about to leaf out. The huge bole is about four feet high and close to that in diameter.

Note: seeing all this dead wood reminds me that we have just had our first two wildfires in the national forest. That's at least one month to six weeks earlier than the usual start of fire season. One of our local bloggers recounts her experience living in one of the local enclaves in the pines; read it here.