54 Rings.....

We have been talking about it for years now, but on May 12th, 2006 we did it. We cut down a pine tree at the family cottage that was causing damage to the property. Her roots were heaving the sidewalk and tilting it back towards the house. This has been causing water problems in the garage for years. This wasn't just any tree as found in the woods around the cabin. It was one of two pine trees planted as babies in the summer of 1951, just in front of the house.

I am sure my father had no idea in 1951, that these trees would grow to great heights, be visible from far distances out on the lake, and one day 54 years into the future...be cut down by his three sons on a rainy Saturday afternoon. How could he have known? The tree was down and in pieces in a matter of hours. We left the stump as a beer holder for the person operating the barbecue grill in days ahead, and while waiting for the steaks to get cooked, one will be able to count all 54 rings in the tree stump (OK, most of us will need our reading glasses....but they are all there).

In a mini celebration on Saturday night 5-13, John, son in law Jim, and myself toasted the tree stump at midnight with shots of jagger bombs. The youngest of the brothers had already gone to bed and had difficulty finding humor in the words and comments of the oldest brother (this is what a lack of jaggerbombs will do to you)!

In any case, I never toasted a tree stump, or a tree removal for that matter....but this was special. We still have the 16mm movie that shows the planted tree at 3 feet tall, and little Margie running around the front yard at the age of almost one.

While the tree is gone, the roots are still there and the stump is still there. The rings will remind everyone, of how old she became before she had to be destroyed. The movie marking the event will be copied and shared, and perhaps one day the movies can be spliced together...the day she was planted, and the day she was cut down. One would only have to look at the pictures on the wall inside the cabin to appreciate all the memories, the fun, and the events that took place, in the years during which..... that pine grew so tall....