Change of View

Last week's snow and ice storm wrecked havoc on Olympia's trees. No more so than Legion Way where the green canopy is a prominent landmark in a region where green is simply a matter of fact.

Here's what it looked like last weekend.



Neighbors with chainsaws cleared some brush in the immediate aftermath. On Sunday contractors cleared more but our block remained closed. By mid-week some 10 to 15 of the trees were clearly marked with orange X's.

On Thursday a city crew began removing the oak tree on the left immediately behind the large pile of fallen branches in the photo above.



By Friday morning they were done.



Scavengers picked the remains pretty clean.



A wood carver wants the large trunk but it may end up going off in rounds if he's not quick about it. Trucks cruise by slowly this morning one or two stop to look but no one is yet prepared to tackle the task. Chainsaws have been the soundtrack in the 'hood lately. I'm sure this Saturday will be no different.

I hope the wood carver gets the big piece. A stately tree becoming some form of art or even timbers seems a more appropriate transformation than someone's firewood.

Whatever its fate, that tree has been my view for over four years. I will miss it.

Note the X on the tree in the upper left of the last photo. My view will be radically changed this time next week.