In fact, I have 'favourite' trees all around the area.
There's an old magnolia in a tiny roadside cemetery in Jacksonville...that's probably my favourite favourite tree.
There's a maple in Swansboro that turns a BEAUTIFUL shade of yellow orange in the fall, gorgeous shape to it as well.
And then, right down the road from my house, is a very old oak. It's been on the verge of dying the last few years. Been struck by lightning many times.
I took a picture of it the day we had all that snow last February. I had one with the tree all leafed out, but I can't find it...
Yesterday I went for a walk back where this house is situated for the first time in a couple of weeks. I discovered that the oak has finally kicked the bucket.
Looks like it just toppled over finally. Chuck said all of the flooding we got was probably the culprit.
As you can see in the snow picture, the tree was pruned so that no branches would overhang the road to the left. Also so that no heavy branches were over the house either. With the ground so soft, it just finally gave out in the direction the heaviest branches were pointing.
Chuck always said it looked like hobbits were living in it. As you can see from this poorly taken photo (sun is really bright the last couple of days) of the underside of the root system, it was pretty rotted out.
I was kind of sad when I saw it. That tree has seen a lot of decades pass by.
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