October 18, 2003, we parked in front of what would soon be our house to see it for the first time. It was the oldest, most unique, and last house our agent would show us, and all we would need to see. I remember getting out of the car and saying, “look at that tree” as it loomed over us in fall colors. It was so impressive. Yesterday that tree came down.

I had guessed the tree was 200-300 years old. The rings are so tight it is hard to count. The arborist says 250+. We have a photo of the house from 1899, and it was huge then. Now Medway is 308 years old – so there is a chance this tree can challenge the town’s age. No matter what, this tree has witnessed some things and been in town longer than most if not all.

We have had the drought in the last eight years, back to back to back seasons of summer and winter moths, add in some rodents taking up home in rotted portions. It aged quickly over the last few years. There was a crevasse at the base. Been there decades, the tree warden could take a rod and push it two feet into the trunk. With the weather changing so that we live in the windy city now, it seems like a week did not go by without us worrying the tree was going to go through my bedroom and take us to the basement at some point.

The experts deemed it too high of a risk to stay up, and we agreed. Sad to see it go, I guess we all have our time. The street will take getting used to with the largest tree no longer on it. As I shared in yesterday’s post, it also caused the eviction of 5 baby owls and their parents. The update on that story is their Mom found the new nest and moved in last night. Seems all will be good, and I will watch them grow. Look for the moment we found the owls in the photos below. Knowing where the nest was after the fact, I can see there was no way anyone would have seen them until after the tree was down. The opening to the hollow section they were in was only a couple of inches in diameter.

Stumpy’s Tree Service did a great job. Check out the time lapse video of the whole cut too.

tr/trp