Old Friend Maple

So sad.  The old maple that stood in front of our house lay down Thursday evening... not an earth-suddering  crash like the oak that fell on the barn last fall, but more delicate, like a chandelier.

She had been ill for some time, as the condition of her base and roots will attest:

Before lying down, though, she prepared by providing an exuberant production of seed for her legacy:

We will honor her legacy by planting and nurturing a few of these.

Today I started tackling the task of disposing of her remains.  Halfway done. Her branches are all taken care of. They, and some of the trunk will provide warmth and a flickering, dancing spirit on our hearth.  We plan to move the main body of her trunk into the field to make a cross-country jump for our horsey friends. We will use branch tips for a bonfire by which we will dance and celebrate her life, remembering the comfort she has given us, and rejoicing in her continuing the Circle of Life.