This tree was struck by lightning almost two years ago and then pine beetles got into it. It’s been dead for more than a year, and it was leaning towards the house, so we had to take it down.

Distant
John S. Quarterman, Gretchen Quarterman, Brown Dog, Yellow Dog,
Picture by Gretchen Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 18 June 2012.

Zoom:

Zoom
Picture by Gretchen Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 18 June 2012.

Cable:

Cable
Picture by Gretchen Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 18 June 2012.

jsq, Terry, tractor:

jsq, Terry, tractor
Picture by Gretchen Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 18 June 2012.

So I cut a wedge with a chainsaw, and then went to the tractor to pull up the slack. The tractor kept moving forward…. I looked back and here it came.

Top
Pictures by John S. Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 18 June 2012.

It fell exactly between this longleaf and slash, as we had planned:

Between
Picture by John S. Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 18 June 2012.

Workers:

Workers
Picture by John S. Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 18 June 2012.

Saw:

Saw
Pictures by John S. Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 18 June 2012.

19 inches in diameter and less than 40 years old, yet it was 100 feet tall. You can see the pine beetles ate far into the tree. That wedge still took a long time to cut, though: the heart of that pine was strong.

Yardstick
Picture by John S. for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 26 June 2012.

-jsq

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