“A few minutes ago every tree was excited, bowing to the roaring storm, waving, swirling, tossing their branches in glorious enthusiasm like worship. But though to the outer ear these trees are now silent, their songs never cease.” – John Muir
This tree with the split personality was my favorite tree when I was a campground host at Lake Walcott State Park in Southern Idaho. — Photo by Pat Bean
Life Happens to us All
My Tree Fell Down. The huge one in which, over the past three and a half years, I’ve watched great-horned owls and Cooper’s hawks try to claim a nesting site — each succeeding once. They laid their eggs in the very same nest..
But on Monday evening, when a kind of mini-tornado blew through the complex, the tree toppled. The giant took out the balcony next to mine as it crashed against my 30-residences apartment building. Thankfully no person was injured.
Me being silly and hugging a tree in Custer State Park in South Dakota.
The mess is still being cleaned up by workmen with shovels, saws and ladders. I figure it will take at least a couple of trucks to haul off all the wood that was once the awesome tree. I would show you pictures, but Windows 10 ate the driver that I need to import pictures from my camera to my computer.*
The loss of my tree, as I felt it was, makes me sad. My eyes dampened this morning as I sat on my front balcony looking at the empty air where the tree once towered above the three-story apartment building across the way.
I’ve listened as gila woodpeckers rapped on the tree’s trunk, and watched as hawks, owls, ravens and, doves frequently visited its branches — while I leaned back in my chair, as I drank my morning coffee, and observed them with my binoculars.
I feel as if a good friend has died. Actually, that is exactly what happened.
Bean Pat: Deidra Alexandra’s Blog http://tinyurl.com/zr9oh4g A funny story that made me smile – and I needed to smile. Don’t you?
*By the way, does anybody have any good, inexpensive suggestions on how to fix the import driver on my four-year-old computer, or, as I suspect, am I going to have to get a new computer?
Pat Bean's blog 
I’m so sorry about your gentle giant, Pat…
ps isn’t it ridiculous that we are made to consider a 4-yr old computer… old?! I wish I could help, but I’m not familiar with this. I do hope you won’t need a new computer though! 🙄
Thaks Marina. It is ridiculous, but I’ve never yet had a computer that lasted as long as this one has before needing to be replaced. It seems like everytime an operating system changes, you need a computer that will accommodate it. Some users can make them last longer, but they have more patience than me. So I end up paying for my frustration.
Sorry to hear about the tree.
Thanks Andrew
So sorry to hear about the loss of your awesome friend. A tree always gives us so much, in so many ways, Pat. But I’ll bet your memories are sterling!
Thank cohopenny. I’ve journaled about watching birds in that fallen tree many times, so my memories of it don’t even have to depend on my memory.
i am so very sorry, and that was a beauty.. you have partners in mourning, though you knew that one better than we.
as for transferring photos to windows, does your camera have a card? i always transfer by card/chip, so maybe you can find a detour around the main problem.
hopefully you’ll get it fixed pronto!
lisa/z
Sorry to hear about that tree, but glad nobody was hurt.
As to your driver problem: do you know if the old driver ist still there but only not working? In that case you might be able to simply update it.
I spent the day downloading drivers because a couple of other things weren’t working either. I’ll check out my camera memory card soon.
Did that today. Hoping it works. Thanks
Hope it helped.
I’m so very sorry about the loss of your beautiful tree — it breaks my heart when we lose these ancient, gentle giants. I know someone who gifts plantings / saplings of trees; I just love that idea! And the people who receive them DO plant them.
Hi Pat, I don’t think it is silly to hug a tree. Trees are alive and I feel a spiritual connection with them. That is why I put my condo up for sale as soon as the association threatened to cut down the tree in front of my deck. So I can appreciate how much you miss that tree. I moved to a house with a woods behind me because of my love of trees. Yours seems like a beauty and a huge loss…certainly the death of a friend.
I actually bought a house because I fell in love with a huge elm tree that kept that home cool all summer. Thankfully there are many other trees here in my apartment complex. Thanks for commenting Linda
Always sad when a tree goes, I think, as it is home and shelter to so many as well as lovely to look at.