Hanging In There

Ooh, the April wind was howling last night. Every time the wind blows hard I check outside to see if some limbs have fallen. Here are two shots of my biggest limb worries. The shot on the right is a close up of the same limb pictured on the left. The large limb of the tree broke at the trunk and then broke again about 7 feet further up the limb. It's broken but not quite all the way through. This is a tough old tree. The limb wouldn't be up in the air at all if it weren't for the two smaller trees that hold it up. The leaning limb is forcing those two trees to bear it's weight thereby making them lean way over above my driveway. I've been watching this limb for 18 months. I was really glad it didn't fall on anyone's car during Offspring #2's grad party last year or at any other time. The limb is sure to come down soon. I'll leave it to decompose in the woods there. Actually, I'm not even totally sure that tree is mine. It lies between my property and my neighbor's yard. He asked me once if the tree was mine or his. I said, "Oh, that broken one? That one is definitely yours." He laughed and said he'd take care of it. On another tree topic, while surveying the yard during the snowstorm, I saw more evidence of rabbit damage. I had some volunteer crab apple trees in my yard. Several of these trees were 6 feet tall. The consarnit rabbits girdled 3 of them. But, on the other hand, they girdled one of my many prickly ash trees. I WISH they had girdled more of those ash. These ash trees have thorns that rip up my arms when I try to mow by them. I do not like these evil trees. The prickly ash are a native species. They grow about 10 feet tall and they grow in thickets making it impossible to get through. I understand that native Americans would chew their bark to relieve toothaches. There is salicylic acid in the bark which is an ingredient of aspirin.