Great Clyde Falling

When Colleen Murphy and I walked back through the forest a few days ago, I was surprised to see that Great Clyde, the Tim Burton tree is suffering a terrible tilt.  I did not see it happen so I cannot say for sure, but three weeks ago he was fine.  Old but fine.

Now he is threatening a great fall to the ground.  I am guessing that it was the tail end of Hurricane Isaac that shifted him, this is my best guess.  I hope the his life is not a trade for the recovery of the files from my waterlogged computer (even though I am happy that my files were recovered and loaded well onto my new computer) I am not sure if my writing is worth this loss.  Clyde is so great!

You know, I know he is just a tree in the forest where so many hail.  But sometimes you can see the tree in the forest…  because some of them stand out uniquely against the others. Clyde is one such tree.  I estimate by his size his age is somewhere between 300-400 years of age.  A long liver for sure.  But his age is not the only thing about him.  He is special like Bonnie, who you know and Twerp, who I have never written about, but will.

From the South, Clyde looks nearly fine.

Even the giant hole which was left when he lost a huge limb looks pretty good.  Actually it looks like a nice home for wildlife.

From the West, it is shocking to see how much the balance of weight has shifted.  If I was really great with a big saw, I would climb up and cut off the huge and heavy bow.  I am guessing that the weight of this is no longer balanced with the loss of that big limb.  Even with heroics, I fear that it is too late to save the beautiful old tree.

Poor Clyde.

Categories: Environmentalism, Forest, Ontario, Time, View | 1 Comment

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One thought on “Great Clyde Falling

  1. I do love that tree. So much character. I hope Clyde hangs in there for many more years; regardless of Isaac.

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