Last Day of a Decades Old Tree

Today I met a wonderful lady who was very gracious, friendly and downright neighborly to me. Corky Drost is her name.

I happened to be driving west on Grover St. in Lynden when something high in the sky caught my eye. It just happened to be a man strapped to a tree! Being an amateur photographer I immediately turned my car around and headed back to my house to retrieve my camera!

I came back to the location where I first saw the man strapped to the tree. I asked a man on the ground if I could snap a few photos, and he said yes so I started snapping away. These two men had the pleasure of working for Corky for the day because they were cutting down her tree. I stood there and watched as the lumberman worked his way down the tree slicing off huge chunks that fell to the ground with a thud.

Corky came out and started chatting with me, and then began taking pictures of her own. She told me the tree was 45 years old and that she received it as a free gift at a bank opening in Ferndale, but it was only a tiny seedling at the time! Corky and her husband, who have lived in Lynden for 51 years, planted the tiny tree and have spent the years watching it grow into the tall fir that sits near the corner of their property today. Corky informed me that they were having the tree cut down because the Grover St. improvements will start soon and the sidewalk and strip of grass alongside the street will be torn up. The trees roots would be damaged when that happens, so it had to come down.

Corky, thank you for taking time out of your day to chat with me, it was fun!