He has been with us since we moved into our house in August 1973. He was most important tree in our yard, our main maple, guarding our home from a brutal afternoon sun for over four decades. But now he’s gone. Our faithful silver maple tree is now firewood. He was dying, almost completely dead, and an eyesore, and we had to chop him down.
The builder of our home in Woodbrook, Claude Cotton, planted 8 silver maples in our yard. They were relatively inexpensive trees at the time and they grew quickly, a developer’s dream. Though they are in the maple family and have sap, it lacks the sweetness of sugar maples and the leaves lack the brilliant colorations. But we were happy to have our family of silver maples, even though the ones in the front yard caused quite a few problems. Silver maples, you see, have an extensive root system, and ones that like to find their way into sewer lines. For several years, we had to have the rooter people come out once a year and remove the invasive roots. Finally, we had to have much of our front yard dug up and installed a line that was root-proof. Still, we loved our trees, especially the main maple.
In the spring, our maple unfolded his branches and welcomed the robins and cardinals, the jays and the doves, and of course, our squirrels. He protected three rooms in our home from the heat and glare of the sun, and in the fall he sent leaves in all directions. Each October, I raked the leaves, put them in our garden as mulch as the maple continued to benefit our family. Even in his last years, the maple tree contributed. As his bark withered and decayed, woodpeckers of all types clung to his trunk and hammered away, extracting bugs and insects. Twice, we had a family of pileated woodpeckers that pecked away on our old maple.
As a memorial, we now have the flat stub of a trunk where Nancy will place potted plants and flowers. Trees are so very valuable, yet often we think nothing of them until they are gone.
Goodbye old friend, we will miss you.