Sad good-bye to a shady friend

©2013 Lydia Hinshaw

Our once-lovely tree           

Tree-guy Dave, acrobat with a chainsaw (or two)                                  

The hearse

All that's left

 ORMOND BEACH, FL -- We did all we could, until there was nothing left but to hire the tree service and write the check.
 For 18 years our front yard has been generously shaded by a wonderful red bay tree.  Not that we knew what to call it.  We thought it was some kind of oak.
 About two years ago we began reading stories in the newspaper about how red bay trees in the area were dying.  Ten years ago before that, something called the ambrosia beetle was accidentally imported into Georgia. 
 The bugs started killing red bay trees, and their appetites were voracious. They reached Florida and headed our way.  The newspaper stories had only one piece of advice for property owners with bay trees:  Budget for removing them.
 Fourteen months ago, a large tree in our back yard suddenly died, almost overnight.  I hadn't known it was a bay tree, but I remembered the news stories, and I noticed its bark looked exactly like the bark on our lovely shade tree out front.
 Uh-oh.
 We had Dave the tree-guy inject the tree with something that might stave off the beetle.  We consulted the best-known arborist in town, a doctoral student at the University of Florida and an old friend of mine.
 He made a creative and experimental suggestion:  Try to disguise the tree's identity, by making it smell weird.  We got a spray tank and several bottles of Pinesol.  We doused as much of the tree as we could reach.
 Last summer, our house-sitter continued to spray the tree every couple of weeks, and we took up the task when we came home again in October.  We were hopeful.  Maybe the beetles were fooled.  Or maybe they were just saving a really beautiful tree for a special occasion.
 About a month ago, the first branch turned brown.  Unlike our other tree, this one died slowly, branch by branch.  My arborist friend turned up one afternoon with his doctorate, his condolences and a TV crew.  I don't have cable, but I think my tree made the news.
 We finally called Dave the tree guy a couple of weeks ago.  Dave has been a busy man lately. Wednesday he turned up with his crew. 
 Taking down a large tree is part math problem, part climbing demonstration, part circus.  We sat in beach chairs and watched for three hours.
 Thursday we visited a local nursery to make arrangements to adopt a young live oak.