Lucky.

It was lucky that our renovation project VW van was parked where it was. It was lucky it didn't fall an inch this way or an inch that way. It was lucky that no one was hurt. It was lucky in so many ways that I can't even think of right now. At 5:30 AM we were awoken to a crunching cracking thud! I knew instantly, even from a deep sleep what it was and where. Our poor old VW van was parked just in the right spot to catch a huge arm of our gigantic California live oak. The sun wasn't even up yet but in the dim light at that hour I could see the damage. The van caught the limb only inches from our new bead buggy and our other old reliable car. Inches from our phone and power lines. Our poor carport was not so lucky. There may be a bit of roof damage but nothing compared to what could have happened. We've loved our giant tree. Parked outside our kitchen, we've watched raccoon families amble up its trunk. Squirrels chase and chatter at each other, round and round, up and down. Birds peeked in at us while we ate and chatted. Hearing the acorns drop on our roof from lofty heights when the wind blows in the fall is a ritual noise I look forward to. But now it is all gone. The whole injured tree endangered our little house as the Hagrid-ish tree man told us. We consoled ourselves at a local nursery trying to pick out a new tree, even as they were working to remove the giant in our front yard. Maybe a mango tree. Maybe a fig. Something that doesn't get too big or decide to "self prune" on our house. Now after two days of chain saw noise and heat wave temps, it is in pieces all over the yard, ready to be useful and beautiful in other ways. So much healthy mulch for the rest of our yard. Beautiful logs to stay and become part of the landscape. Lucky.