Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/01/26
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Marc >>Trees forever. People? Hmm...<< I love trees. But there's a limit to my affection. It's not unusual for shallow rooted pine or cedar trees in the Pacific Northwest to blow over now and then. Every year there are instances where big trees fall and literally cut homes in two. And I mean big homes. It's pretty amazing. When a tree falls in the forest and there IS somebody there to hear it, it makes an incredible sound. I can personally vouch for that. I've seen the aftermath of an average size tree falling onto a home. Average size around here is probably 60 ft tall, 6-8 ft in diameter. They're as common as clouds around there. When one falls, it's a pretty incredible sight. When a big windstorm starts toppling trees in Portland it disrupts transportation more than a 24 inch blizzard will disrupt traffic in Denver. I've been through both. My neighbor has an average size tree listing toward his home. He says it's difficult to sleep well on a windy night. You might think such an obvious danger would be easy to remidy. Not so. When we get really big storms people get especially nervous. This probably sounds a bit silly. Than again, I never appreciated things like this until I lived here. I lived in Hollister, CA. I experienced 5 earthquakes of 6.0 plus magnitude. One shook my house off it's foundation. I lived in the Midwest. I've been in a car being pounded by grapefruit sized hail. I've seen tornados. I've lived through a hurricane. For some reason I've never been afraid of anything quite as much as large tree, leaning. As a kid camping in Jedediah Smith National Park near Crescent City CA in the 60's I saw a "widow maker" destroy an Airstream trailer. When a large branch falls from a 200 ft tall Redwood and lands on people, it's called a widow maker. My tree phobia is probably rooted in that. I hate to be the one to introduce everyone to the sinister side of our arboreal friends. I'm all for hugging trees. Just not leaning trees. Especially in a wind storm. Dave