Old Timer

What are we looking at here?

(1) A close up of the skin on the soles of my feet
(2) An alligator's back
(3) My laundry after I forgot to add softener

None of the above! This is the bark of an ancient maple tree that shades the front of our home. I am pretty sure that this venerable old timer was planted right around the time the house was built.

It is one of only two surviving maples from an original row of four. We had to cut one of the trees down, because it was dropping branches, and when we called in an arborist to check the tree's health, it was discovered the entire trunk was hollow and very unsafe. It broke my heart to have to take it down. I felt like a murderess. The other tree just collapsed by itself one calm summer's afternoon.

The bark is very rough, and it's decorated with interesting colonies of lichen and moss. Home to squirrels and birds, and the occasional wasp nest, survivor of countless blizzards, gales, and thunder storms. Oh, how I would love to hear the stories this grand old tree could tell!