Thursday, June 12, 2014

The Tree that WAS...and is no more...


We live in a tristate area known as Tampabay Area... also known as the Lightning Capital of the Nation... READ HERE for more info. Day before yesterday Polk County had 16,000 strikes in one hour. we could hear it but not see it...

about 8 weeks ago, Bob was in the garage workshop with the door down because it was still cold outside. I was on the computer (bet that is a surprise) and BAM the house shook, the windows rattled, the man who can't hear thunder ran in the house and said THAT WAS CLOSE.. I heard it. Well YEAH, it hit our tree that was about 8 feet from him.

The thing is we did not know it hit the tree until the tree looked like this, as in DEAD...

We were standing looking up at the view above from our back yard and noticed the tree was split right down the middle. Out front we found the below all the way from top to bottom.


The front yard looked like this when the Tree Service came and soon looked like this...

You can see how old the tree was, look at the slice of the lower limb where they cut it off. They tied the rope to  the stump and pulled it over with a truck.


And MadSnapper and Hubby,Tree Huggers at heart, were left sadly staring at the big gap left by the old tree that was...and is no more!


We were sad because there were a few things we were not happy with besides the loss of the tree and the drain sucking down our dollars.
To be Continued...

of course it will be continued, I am the MadSnapper and there was a man in a bucket with a saw and a wood chipper in our yard for EIGHT HOURS.

NOTE: Feedly has been highjacked for ransom. I use this for reading blogs, so if I missed you the past two days, I will catch up. I am using Digg and Dashboard trying to find what i missed. CLICK HERE to read about the Cyber pirates


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30 comments:

From the Kitchen said...

Oh goodness! You are fortunate that part of it didn't fall into the house. Of course, then your insurance should have paid for it to be removed. Our house in Charleston had eleven 50ft live oaks. The buyer was sold because of those trees. Five months after closing, Hugo struck and ten of those trees were "topped" to about ten feet tall. Only one struck the corner of the house. It was the only one their insurance covered. The rest of the removals were at their expense.

Best,
Bonnie

Anonymous said...

Such a shame to lose such a big tree (and costly)! I know you will miss the shade/privacy.

Rose said...

I am assuming, and I bet correctly assuming that the Madsnapper had a snapping good day!

Unknown said...

Firstly thank God it was not anywhere near you or the house. Sad that the majestic tree is no more. Maybe you can plant a new something there? Have a tremendous Thursday.
Best wishes Molly

My Mind's Eye said...

OH MY WORD MS YOU HAD TREE MONKEYS TOO! THEY ARE RUNNING RAMPANT ALL OVER THE PLACE. ONE OF MY FAVORITE PhD students was from Tampa. Both he and his wife were Florida State Grads. We became instant friends. He used to tell me how he would stand on the porch to watch lightning and how many strikes you have in the Tampa area. I just shook my head. I am NOT a fan of lightning and make a point to no look at it. We had a real tstorm last night. 1.4" of rain fell in an hour. The three giant trees we had removed a few weeks ago were always such a worry during storms. Not only could they fall but they are huge lightning rods too.
Hugs Madi and Mom

Montanagirl said...

It's always sad to lose such a big tree. Glad no one was injured.

Montanagirl said...

It's always sad to lose such a big tree. Glad no one was injured.

Mersad said...

Must have been quite a shock to hear the lightning strike. Sad to loose a tree, that is giving shade and privacy.

Mersad
Mersad Donko Photography

barbara l. hale said...

I am so sorry about your tree. But happy that that's the worst of it and neither of you were hurt. Scary stuff.

Inger said...

That was such a huge tree, I am so sorry. Now, I couldn't help but wonder what the dogs do when the storms are that close. They must be so scared too. I am glad Bob is OK, that was a very close call, between hurricanes, sink holes, and now thunder storms, you do live in a dangerous place.

TexWisGirl said...

really, REALLY sorry about the loss of the tree!

i got so tired of waiting for digg to update (which it wasn't!) i signed up for bloglovin. and that's when i finally found your post for today.

photowannabe said...

Wow, I had no idea things got that wild in your neck of the woods.
Grateful the tree didn't damage your home. I do hate seeing my money get sucked down the drain for unplanned things like that.
Take care and I'm glad you are feeling better.

Cheryl @ TFD said...

I know nuttin' about Digg, Feedly, etc. I just use my list in my sidebar.

I hate losing trees, too. We've had a couple in our yard including a very old large oak that had to be taken down. Some of the others have been struck by lightening but are still standing. We had a tree man tell us just recently that they will eventually die. At this rate we will be treeless before long! We're hoping they survive a few more years. Sorry about your nice tree.

Ginny Hartzler said...

Your photos of that crack are amazing. Now does it change the light in the house or the yard? When our only tree died and had to be taken down, we all of a sudden got all this light in the living room, and a view from the yard and the window. Of course the heat builds up worse in hot weather. I still really miss it. Wonder hoe old yours really was?

jp@A Green Ridge said...

Been using BlogLovin...what do you mean Feedly held for randsome? Sad about your tree...I am a tree bigger too!...:)JP

Miss Debbie said...

Sorry about the tree...that's a shame. But I am glad it did not hit your house!

Suburban Girl said...

Well, that must have been exciting. Glad everyone and everything, except the tree, was ok.

LC said...

Wow! Glad you and Bob are okay. My sympathies on the loss of that tree. We didn't lose any trees in Katrina. But I still mourn the lovely live oaks that were a beautiful part of our pre-Katrina drives along the beach.

Looking forward to the man with the bucket reports!

Grandma C said...

Such excitement you have!
It did its duty, the tree gave it's life to save Bob. :)

Jackie See said...

Wow, that was close! What a big and beautiful tree, sorry you had to lose it. It was great shade!

Coloring Outside the Lines said...

I'm sorry about your tree, but I am glad no one was hurt!

Cranberry Morning said...

So sad about your tree, Sandra. I'm the same way about trees. So sad to lose one. We have a huge spruce that was hit by lightning a few years back and split, but not totally apart. Now the top 10' are dead but the rest of the tree is still standing. It would leave a huge emptiness if it goes. Eagles and every other bird love to sit on the top branches (even the dead branches) and use it as a lookout!

I even wrote to Feedly to see what was up. They emailed back and fortunately it's once again up and running. Boy did I miss it!!

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Sorry about the tree... Is this another one? I remember reading about one some time ago in your yard.. BUT--it's probably the same tree since you said it had happened about 8 weeks ago when it was still cold.

We thought we had lost one of our trees when it lost all of its leaves last year. BUT--a tree service has been spraying it --and it's getting leaves now...

Sorry about Feedly... I don't use it anymore --because it won't update my lists automatically when I take people off and on my followers lists each month...

Hugs,
Betsy

Linda P said...

Sorry to hear about the loss of the tree. The possibility of lightning strikes in your area sounds scary. Glad you and Bob were kept safe during that time. Take care.

Kathy said...

These storms have been pretty rough this whole week.

Just Mags said...

Oh, my!! Reading this sweet Sandra shook me up and you know why. I am so sorry that you lost your beautiful tree. I too get sad when we lose a tree. That tree may have very well saved Bob by taking the strike with him so near. I am glad the lightening did not strike your home and the tree did not fall on it. So happy you are both okay and you still have your home. Big hugs!!

EG CameraGirl said...

How sad you've lost that big tree. Thank goodness the lightning hit the tree and not your house, though.

Unknown said...

And you lost a lot of shades, that tree gave you. But still a good thing the lightning hit the tree and not the house.

Ann said...

oh what a shame. that was a big tree. Will you plant another one?
I'm having the same problem trying to catch up with all the blog posts I've missed because of feedly's problems

SquirrelQueen said...

So sorry about the tree, I hate losing one too. Although the lightning is less common here than down your way we had a hit this spring that shook the house when it hit a utility pole. It knocked out our power and messed up one of the computers that wasn't on a surge protector.

I don't use Feedly but this post didn't show up in my reader yesterday. Tonight both this and your latest post are there. I'll blame Blogger for this mishaps.