As many of us walk our favorite paths through parks and woodlands, its easy to take for granted the weathered old trees that seem to have stood forever.
One such tree was was this gnarled cottonwood, estimated to be around 80+ years old. Other than the mysteries of unknown that this silent giant has witnessed in the city park where it stood, this tree held another secret deep inside.
Hidden in this tree, unknown to anyone at the time, were three complete, active bee hives. The first hive was discovered when a large portion of the tree snapped off during a wind storm, revealing a hollow trunk. When a tree service crew brought down the rest of the tree, the other hives were exposed, and angry bees swarmed the workers.
I wish harm to no one, but I am glad that this beauty did not go down without a fight, even if its defenders were its inhabitants. This tree has stood for generations providing shade to visitors from all walks of life who frequented the park. Standing as a young tree before the park was created over sixty years ago, the road was actually built around it. In other words, it had more of a right to be there than any of us.
Now, sadly, there are no physical signs left that this tree existed. All logs and branches have been removed, the stump has been ground to sawdust and hauled away, even the mystery inhabitants have been moved to a new home.
At this time, I know of no other pictures that have been taken of this tree. I snapped this one with my LG Voyager cell phone camera at dusk about a year ago. It has since become one of my favorites; a testament that life is worth fighting for.
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