Old Man's Brother...The Older Man

You know The Old Man that I have a photo of in my header - and that I've blogged about ad nauseum infinitum? Well, here is his much older brother. This old man has been around for as long or longer than my old man, and he is HUGE! My brother has a wonderful photo of my Dodgie standing inside of him, and you can get a sense of just how huge he was in all his glory. There isn't a tree near-by that is half as big as this tree is.

For the 40 years my parents have called this land theirs, he's always been this way. Never had the pleasure of seeing him in all his living glory. Sure wish I could have.

The Old Man...

...has fallen

May The Old Man rot in peace.

I'll miss him terribly.

~~~

xoabb

change isn't always pleasant

I've blogged about this magnificent tree over the years - the photo in my blog header is that of The Old Man in all his glory. I always knew that the above was inevitable, but still...it was hard to see this. What finally happened is the "sprout" (you can see it lying on the ground on the left) that was growing out of the left side finally got too heavy and caused The Old Man to split. I really am sad to see him go. He was magnificent! 

Photo taken December 2011.

The Old Man - Still Standing!

I ventured down to the valley to see if this magnificent sycamore was still standing. I was worried on three fronts. 1, as you can see, he's hanging on precariously by, it looks like, just about 1/4 of his roots; 2, there was a major rain storm and the valley flooded this spring. If you look at how the waters eroded the earth just below this old tree, you'd find it impossible to believe Old Man survived the onslaught; and sadly, 3, there is a major highway being built about 50 feet from where he stands. Though his surroundings have basically been destroyed, he is still standing. (The photo in my header is of the same tree that was taken the summer of '07.)

~~~

xoabb

expect anything!

~

Photo: Taken 4/20/10 of the old sycamore tree (The Old Man) that is along the banks of the South Fork of the Grindstone Creek in the valley below my parents home in Missouri. The photo in my header is of the same tree but taken in the summer of '07.