We had a great maple tree in front of our home. It came with the house and I have no idea how old it was but the trunk was huge for a tree on the islands. This tree gave us wonderful foliage in the summer that kept our window-filled living room much cooler than it would have been otherwise. We especially enjoyed all the benefits it provided as it shielded our windows, cut down traffic noise, added privacy, plus it gave a serene coziness to our home.
Some 20-plus years ago an elderly man lost control of his car, crashed through our fence, and hit the tree head-on. My husband, Neil, was home at the time and because the tree is only 7 feet from the front wall he said the house shook after what sounded like an explosion. The tree was injured more than the man but it lived on.
Taking the impact of the car the tree also saved our Ocean City cottage. The house leans toward the ocean and an impact of that magnitude would have shoved our home right off of its foundation. Miracle number one.
All three large trees in our yard are regularly trimmed and maintained and as the years went by we watched as the damage from the accident took its toll on the injured maple. We finally had to remove the northern most limb from the trunk where the car struck. That limb was a good 30” around and removing it took the balance out of the beauty of the tree. Still, it produced shade and the squirrels raised their babies in nests they made in its limbs.
Around 12:30 one recent night prolonged emergency lights flashing on our walls and ceiling stirred me enough to get me up to investigate. I saw that Neil was already out of bed and when I looked out the front window I saw three patrol cars, one blocking our street, and Neil walking in our yard below. The tree had finally succumbed to its injuries and broke off at the damaged trunk. That was one big tree and neither of us heard it fall. The police had been called by a neighbor that did hear the tree’s final groan.
May I tell you how God worked all this for good? Although I am very sad to lose the tree, we knew each year as it was trimmed back further of dead wood that the day was coming when we would have to have it removed. As I said, the tree is much larger than our tiny house and only 7 feet into the yard. The tree fell at an angle away from our home and over our fence. There were branches in the bike lane but none in the auto lanes. It missed the newly installed crossing signal that blinks when the children cross the street for the playground. It did not touch our electrical wires, which were inches away from its branches. It happened after midnight when there were no cars parked in front of our house and no children heading to the playground as they do continuously all day long. Nothing suffered any damage other than our fence and light post. A true second miracle.
To enlarge that gift from God, Neil called a dear friend in the morning who brought his son, his son-in-law, and two grandchildren along with a chainsaw and loppers. All of them made short order of the limbs and branches that were full of leaves and got the tree down to its bare thick trunk. The city, having been alerted to the tree falling, sent a crew to pick up debris. They went well beyond what they were paid for and lifted and hauled away many branches and limbs and came back for a second load.
Just as Neil and his God-given emergency work crew were heading to breakfast downtown it started to rain. Holding back the showers was another gracious gift of our God!
The tree company we use left from Deptford and reached our house by 11:30 a.m. to find dry skies. That crew was amazing – they brought two huge trucks and a pickup all towing heavy equipment, and they had the tree and stump removed, the yard pristine, and the sidewalk and the street beautifully cleaned by 1 p.m. Not a leaf was left to be found. A blessing indeed.
We will miss this wonderful tree and will surely replace it with another but God has graciously used it two times to avoid damage to our little home and so I can say with a thankful heart that our God is very good indeed and He has blessed us mightily.
And that is the story of the tree miracles.
ED. NOTE: Amy Patsch writes from Ocean City. Email her at writerGoodGod@gmail.com.
