emma96•12d ago

Rant: That lightning strike job at Lake Placid in 2019 made me completely rethink my whole approach to hazard trees

4 comments

4 Comments

I was up near Tupper Lake last spring and a big maple came down on a back road. No lightning strike, just rot inside the trunk. That line about the job in Lake Placid makes me think of how that tree landed right in the middle of a curve. One second it was standing, the next it was scattered all over the pavement. It really opened my eyes to how fast those hazard trees can fall. I look at every older tree different now.

hannah_west3911d ago

That "one second it was standing, the next it was scattered" is the part that gets me, because it's like so many things in life you assume are solid until they're not. @colethomas is right that it makes you rethink things, and I've started noticing that same hidden rot pattern in people and relationships too, not just trees. You walk past something a hundred times and never know what's hollowed out inside until it comes down.

colethomas12d ago

Honestly, that "rethink my whole approach" line hits hard. I've had a couple jobs that changed how I look at things too. It's rough when you realize how fast things can go sideways with those trees.

miles_robinson2011d ago

Man that's exactly the kind of thing that sticks with you. Had a similar wake up call myself a few years back, walking a trail near my house and a big oak just cracked and fell maybe 50 feet in front of me. No wind, no rain, just a dry sunny day. The trunk was totally hollowed out from rot on the inside. Made me realize you can walk past these trees a hundred times and never know what's hiding under the bark. Now I find myself scanning every old tree on my property and in the neighborhood like some kind of paranoid inspector.