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January 31, 1980 - Lament to a TreeSECOND SECTION JANUARY 31, 1980 LAMENT TO A TREE focus on nature by Paul Stoutenburgh All things must come to an end sometime -- and so the end came to one of the landmarks on our property, the old oak tree. All things must come to an end sometime We were told that ospreys once nested in and so the end came to one of the our big black oak on the edge of the woods landmarks on our property, the old oak tree. that dominated the area. Those prolific days When my wife and I were first married we had passed for the osprey when nests were lived in my folks place down on the bay in common about, but the mere idea of an Fleets Neck, but like all young people we osprey once nesting on those three acres wdnted a place of our own. We looked made the area something special to us. everywhere on the North Fork to find just the right spot and finally found three acres The tree died two years ago, from, I guess, of woodland on Skunk Lane in Cutchogue. just old age, and the thought of cutting it This piece of woodland overlooks the down always seemed to be put off. It was farms to the east and it had an old winding part of the family. After all our kids were road up through it. The woods were mostly brought up in its giant shadow and hadn't second - growth hickory and black oak, with a their swing pivoted from one of its lofty wonderful sprinkling of shadblow. Shadblow limbs? My daughter has special fond is that delicate, white - flowering, bushy tree memories of it for beside it, when it still was we see blossoming throughout our area in a magnificent green oak, she was married. the early spring. It gets its name from the You just don't act hastily on doing away fact that in the old days shad used to spawn with something that carried so many in our waters when the tree blossomed. memories with it. The only real large tree was a huge black But it was getting so rotten and so old we oak that somehow had survived the hurri- were a bit afraid of its large tumbling limbs canes and storms of the century. Scattered which were beginning to fall whenever the all through the woods were low mounds of wind blew. We knew the day for cutting it earth, the remains of great tree stumps of had to come. I tried with my old chain saw, the past, trees that went down in the great but it defied any attempt. Newer and more hurricane of '38. Their wood had long since powerful equipment was brought in, calcu- been cut out and used for heating homes of lations were made where it would fall, rails another era. were taken out of the old pasture fence to prevent the tree from crashing on them, and How little time it takes to undo a century of living. my wife busied herself inside, not wanting to witness its fall. Chain saws were yanked, fiddled with, cussed out and finally started ...the sawing process began. Crashes Into Fence How little time it takes to undo a century of living. The last thread held the giant to the soil as the boys stepped back. Even then the tree stood straight and tall, almost as if it were never going to give in. Then a slight movement that increased throughout, creat- ing a rustling and creaking of the limbs -- a swish in the air -- the earth shook -- and it was all over! In its last desperate attempt to resist, it moved just enough to defy our calculations , and its outstretched limbs crashed through the still- standing rails of the old pasture fence. The deed was done. Our dog, who had scurried away with his tail between his legs as the tree came crashing down, now returned, sniffing about. The boys left with their saws and I was alone with my thoughts. My eye went down to the huge, freshly cut trunk, its annual rings spreading out before me. On my knees I blew away the sawdust and started to count ... 70 ... 80 ... 90... 100...112 years this tree stood overlooking the farmlands. Truly a mighty oak from a little acorn grew. In its early years the tree had witnessed the backbreaking toil of clearing the land. Axes bit into the oak and hickory while the two -man saw's long and even strokes parceled the wood into convenient lengths. Horses with their steaming bodies worked under the lather of leather harnesses to pull the debris of stumps and branches into heaps along the side. It was the day of physical brawn, both of man and beast. The wagon wheel in the 1800s was just about the height of technology in those days. From its lofty tower it saw the changes in farming slowly take place. In the early days most of the farms were small and operated in a self- sufficient form, with a variety of crops, fruits and vegetables, along with livestock and chickens that made a com- plete way of life. It's interesting to note that just one farm to the north had one of the last milking cows around that I remember. The farmhouse and barn are still there, but to the east a string of new and modern homes have settled on what was known as the neighboring farm. The tree watched the disappearance of the horse, only to be replaced by the iron horse, the tractor. Steel- lugged wheels and crude equipment made the farmer's work more efficient and less back - breaking. Later the rubber -tired wheels became common. Farms melted together and became bigger. Single -crop farms became the new way of life and the hand - picked potatoes in burlap bags brought us into the roaring 40s. But even that changed as new equipment, such as the mechanical potato digger, and later the potato combine, both did more work with less men. New technologies were applied, chemical fertilizers, pesticides and mechan- ical contraptions of every kind were to be had. Our tree had seen it all and its end had come. Even now, weeks later, when the debris of broken limbs and huge logs have been cut and split into firewood, the tree has left its mark. A long deep impression on the lawn marks the place where the tree fell. I'll probably leave that there, like the stump, to remind me of some of the good things that once were part of the land we all knew so well. S eventy... 80... 90... 100... 112 years this tree stood. Photos by Paul Stoutenburgh Racquetball, Anyone"? A move is under way to establish a private racquetball /squash /hand- ball club on the North Fork. So far, more than 50 families have expressed an interest in becoming charter members. We are talking about building two regulation courts with locker -room facilities in the Cutchogue- Peconic- Southold area. Shares will be priced between $500 and $1,000 -- depending on the number of charter members. If you are prepared to make that kind of investment to establish the North Fork's first indoor racquet club, please return the attached coupon immediately to Racquetball, Box F, Greenport, N.Y. 11944. ❑ Yes, I'm interested in joining the new racquet club. Name: Phone Number: Street: Village: Zip: Here are the names and addresses of other families and individuals who might be interested: