When you live in the same house for fifty plus years, you go through lots of neighbors. According to averages, people only stay in one house about 8 years. But with all the people who have come and gone in this neighborhood, one thing stays the same, the backyards.
The looks of the yards change, but usually the boundaries do not. As a kid, I didn't know there were lines that separated one yard from another, to me it was an open opportunity to explore.
I spent the greater part of summer vacation in the 'neighbors to the north' apple tree, it was great for climbing and at the time I thought it was huge. The backyard to the south was my favorite haunt, probably because it bordered my backyard and like I said, there were no borders.
The house that shares that yard is old, built sometime during the Civil War and it has probably sat empty as much as it has had occupants. It's backyard has seen many changes, from having waist high grass to being finely manicured. During the late 60's a local businessman bought the property, more to preserve it than to live in it, and he had lots of landscaping done. He planted tall shrubs that surrounded the entire backyard and in the very back of the yard he planted two Colorado Blue Spruce trees. I was in junior high at that time and enjoyed all the renovations that were going on next door, but I fell in love with those two trees.
The life span of a Colorado Blue Spruce can be up to 200 years, but when planted for ornamentation, according to my research, they only live about 40 to 60 years. (Say, isn't 'ornamentation' a snazzy word!) Sadly both trees have died, at exactly the same time, and have to be taken down. In their prime, they were very impressive. They grew to almost fifty feet in height and had a span of twenty five feet across. I always thought it would have been so cool to put lights on them at Christmas time, but no one shared my enthusiasm for that idea. Besides, for as many lights as it would have taken to cover them, it would have probably blown the breaker box right off the wall, not to mention the couple of hundred feet of drop cords needed to reach them. The trees have been the home to many a feathered friend and a hideout beneath their branches for three generations of children.
Since all the backyards on my side of the street slope gently to the east, when I stand at my backdoor I'm eye level with the middle of these trees. They have been part of my backyard view for many years, part of my personal skyline. One day, as I was admiring the view, I noticed the top of one of the trees shaking. On closer inspection I realized it was one of the neighborhood boys in the tree, about 40 feet off the ground. I yelled, well, screamed would probably describe that better, for him to get down. Not only was I concerned for his safety, I knew two of my grandsons were not far behind him.
It will be hard to see the trees go. I will not only miss their majestic silhouette against an early morning sky, but also the beauty of the moon rising through their branches. I bid them farewell and thank them too, for all the pleasure they have brought, not just to me, but to whomever was fortunate to have enjoyed their presence. I'm not surprised they both died at the same time, I don't think one could have lived without the other, they were surely soul mates. I wish they could have lived for 200 years because now I have to admit, I've outlived a tree....two trees.
No comments:
Post a Comment