This morning the stillnes of the neighborhood was violated by the rumble of large trucks and chain saws. It was as if someone had thrown a brick through a plate glass window.
The crew scaled the majestic White Pine and dangling on the ropes like an aerial circus act began whittling away at the branches. Chips and sawdust drifted like snowflakes as a light breeze stirred the sweet resinous air.
In the neighboring trees, the birds, that I expect had made the pine their home , were wildly dancing and singing a song of distress. It was an unusually loud and high-pitched scold I wished I’d recorded.
The tree was estimated to be between 100 and 150 years old, was nearly 3 feet in diameter and reached almost 200 feet into the sky. The branches extended 20 feet or more from the trunk. One of the woodmen said it was virgin growth which meant it was here long before the urban life was laid down.
As the last large section of trunk shuddered the truck bed, I felt sad that such magnificence would not be seen again on those mornings after a fresh snowfall. The whispering of the the needles in the wind falls silent. It was feared that such a giant, could, in a storm, wipe out 3 or 4 homes, theoretically I suppose. Fear of the giant was its demise.
My violin is made from Maple, Spruce, and Ebony trees. Trees are invaluable to me. I’ve started composing a piece about the White Pine as token of tribute.