A Massacre on Park Avenue

Remember all those beautiful fall pictures (and here are some more) I posted of the trees in the park by my house? Well, they're taking a hard hit. Do you also remember the windstorm I posted about when a few of those old poplars blew down? It seems they all have some kind of poplar disease and they are rotting from the inside out. All it could take is one more strong wind gust and any one of them could have come toppling down. The city decided they didn't want to take the chance that the next one falls on a person or any of the homes and cars that line the street, so THIS started this week:

Did you spot the little man with the chainsaw? Here's a better look:
I'll bet you know what's coming next . . .

That is not an enormous limb jutting out of the tree in the forefront, it's the one he was sawing on its way down. Take note of the big, knotty tree in the left of the picture, we'll revisit it in a moment.
And in this corner . . . three heavyweights. Here's the first one to bite the dust:

They took the big one on the right, too, and we were left with this:

The saw whirred to life again, and this happened:

Until finally we were left with wide-open sky.
Now, remember the one I told you to pay attention to? That's the one my daughter said is her favorite. She's been so thankful each time she comes home and it's still standing, especially since they had already taken down all the ones around it. I have no idea what her reaction will be when she gets home and sees this:

It has been a painful process watching all these giants come tumbling down . . . and they're still going. Although I am thankful that I do not have to worry about them falling on my home (we would have been pretty much a direct hit), I sure wish there was some other way. I know they will replant (this IS Washington, after all, the most tree-hugging state in the union!) but trees are such slow-growing things. I guess I'll look for the positive and enjoy my slightly better water view.