Tree is Broken

Last Friday, the 100+ year old oak in our backyard came crashing down, demolishing the swing set but fortunately nothing else.  T & I were at a friends house but the sitter filled us in when we called to check in.  The next day, the neighbors reported hearing the loud crack and the swooshing sound--which sound like someone on their roofs or patios--but they couldn't see anything in our backyard in the darkness.  So they were a bit surprised at the source of the sound the next morning (or later that night as T posted to Facebook).  There was no storm to knock it over (so the insurance company can avoid contributing to the clean up), just old age.  The inside had rotted at the base and the large canopy finally became too heavy to hold up.  It's still surprising that the heavy thunderstorms the week before didn't blow it down.  They caused tornados across NC, including in Raleigh where I had to hole up in the bunker of the state legislative office building with the North Carolina Student Legislature.

C and M spent a lot of time out there, esp now that the weather is warm.  M in particular asks "outside?  shoes?  jacket?" and loves to swing. But she has taken the disaster quite well.  In fact, several mornings in a row, she asked for the blinds to be open so she could point out and tell me or C, "Tree is broken; swing is broken."  This morning, when Ellie and T entered the room, she announced, "Ellie my sister."