Witnessing a Giant's Fall. blog entry #6

It was a stifling hot summer day. It was probably in the mid nineties. I was around 17, maybe 18 years old at the time. I was sitting along the banks of my favorite Pennsylvania bass pond. This bass pond was a secret spot that my brothers and I had fished for years. But it wasn't such a secret because we took all our friends there to fish. We caught many bass in this pond. It was a small paradise.

I remember there was an old rowboat along the shore that had a small leak in it. We would row out on the pond, and fish until the boat had too much water in it. We would row it back to the shore and empty out the water before it sank. The small body of water had an emaciated dock on one end that only had maybe half the boards on it. When the fish weren't biting, sometimes we would dive or do a cannonball off the skimpy dock into the cool water. This old Pennsylvania farm pond was a young boy's playground. I have many great memories from that old fishing hole.

Surprisingly, my greatest memory from this pond was not the fishing, not the swimming, or the old rowboat with a hole in it. But my greatest memory was something that I had witnessed along the banks of the pond. A rare sight that I believe I was very fortunate to witness.

As my story began. It was an incredibly hot day. It was "too hot" to fish. and the fish concurred, they refused to bite any of my lures that I cast out into their watery territory.

After no success at catching an elusive bass. I plopped myself down at the base of a nice shady tree, I sat my pole down, leaned back comfortably and fixed my sites on an old tree that I knew very well.

I stared curiously looking at the towering dead tree that stood maybe forty yards away from the little pond. I could not recall how many times I had walked by this tree or leaned against it. This tree stood alone and in front of the wood line of oak trees that were only half as tall as this old massive tree. The weathered old tree had to stand at least two hundred feet tall, maybe more. It had no bark on it at all. The tree had no tiny limbs on it. Surely after the tree had died , the harsh Pennsylvania winds, rain, snow, and blazing sun had stripped off as much as it could over the years. The four seasons had severely weathered the tree.This had only given the tall gray tree a statuesque or monumental look.

Over its lifetime, the tree had most likely been home to many different animals, birds, and bugs. They all tore, chewed, or burrowed into the tree's wood, both when it was alive and dead. This had taken its toll on the wooden giant.

I found myself just gazing at the tree at that moment.

Suddenly... I heard the loudest crack come from that tree! I sounded like two baseball bats being hit together with the strength a freight train! I looked at the tree in amazement. trying to understand that thunderous noise. I could see a giant crack had appeared at the tree's base.

Then with no other warning the tree came crashing straight down. The tree did not fall at an angle, but straight down upon itself. As it fell, it splintered and broke apart under its enormous weight. I could only compare it to a building that had been demolished and imploded. Although the whole event took maybe five to seven seconds... it looked like the tree fell in slow motion. I know my eyes had to be wide open and jaw dropped.

I stood up in disbelief. I literally could not believe what I had just witnessed. I walked over to the pile of wood that only a minute before had been a giant tree. I stood there and thought to myself, that I was fortunate to witness this event. How many people could claim to see an event like this? Really... how many people could claim that they saw a tree collapse on its own and not by the elements or a saw blade.

How long had this tree occupied this spot of land by this farm pond near the woods? One hundred maybe two hundred years? All the years it withstood the harsh elements and Mother Nature wearing it down, and all the years it stood there after it had died. For me to witness this giant fall was a sight I knew I would never forget. "The right place, at the right time."

To this very day, I still count seeing that Great tree fall as one of my top five memories in the "great" outdoors.

Witnessing a Giant's Fall

Humbly Submitted for your Approval

Jerry Strennen