Taking Down the Elm

I wrote two posts a few days ago about the elm tree near Old Main that is being removed this week because it is diseased. When I last visited, they had not yet begun the removal.

It poured down rain yesterday, not a day to risk taking down a tree. Just before noon today, I made a quick visit to campus to check on the status of the tree. The huge crane had arrived, and they had started the process of cutting down the tree.

It has been quite mild the past few days - appropriately springlike for spring break week - but a front moved through in the middle of the night, leaving behind a gray winter sky, and a bitter-cold wind that spat brisk, fat snow flurries.

Two men hanging from ropes and wielding chainsaws were hard at work in the upper part of the tree when I arrived. The area was cordoned off so the curious couldn't get too close.

I was taking the standard shots from in front of Old Main. Most included the crane, a small group of men, the tree, and Old Main itself. Then I thought, Hmm, I wonder what it looks like from behind the tree, looking through the tree onto the Old Main lawn.

So I walked all the way around, and I noticed two things:

One, the new vantage point gave me a nice, clean view of the tree; backlit by diffuse morning light, it almost resembled black and white.

Two, the new view gave me Old Glory in the background (the flag that flies on the Old Main lawn).

It seemed like some kind of strange reenactment of that famous Iwo Jima statue - odd angles, several men holding on, Old Glory the only splash of color. The man on the left grabbed the rope and quickly started to descend, the breeze came along and caught the flag, sending it billowing, and - SNAP! - That was the shot.

I have felt responsible for bearing witness to the elm tree this week, recording its beauty during its final days, and being there to see it when they started to take it down.

GirlWithACamera, are those tears in your eyes? Or maybe it's just that biting edge of bitter-cold wind and the snow . . .


View/read the other two postings about the elm tree:
Tuesday 6 March 2012: We Will Remember You, Part 1
Wednesday 7 March 2012: We Will Remember You, Part 2