An Amputation At The Indian Tree

          An amputation took place this morning and the patient was our beloved Indian tree.

          A number of limbs had to be cut away to ensure safety of nearby power lines.

          The process turned out to be less traumatic than I imagined and Davey Tree Service not only consulted with me on every cut that was made, but waited half an hour for me to show up before starting at about 8:30am.

          The arborists already knew that the tree is an historic monument and had called a day ahead of time to be certain I could be on hand to supervise. 

          Our work was a compromise of the trimming that was needed, with the intense desire to not materially alter the shape or look of the unique, 250-year-old oak tree.

          In her 1997 book, "Indian Trail Trees,"  Elaine Jordan describes these trees as a, "…priceless link to the past," and urges that readers, "…help preserve the ones that are left."

          With her plea in mind and hundreds of her photographs of marker trees in sharp memory, the responsibility of preserving and protecting this living artifact weighs heavily on my shoulders.

          I tried to shift some of that weight over to the Davey Tree guys and they accepted it willingly.  The trimming was finished in less than an hour and the basic shape of our historic tree was kept intact.

          Let's hope that the tree I fondly call, "the oldest living artifact in Ohio's Amish Country," stands tall and proud for at least another century.