Altered Skyline

To the east of our property there is a small "wet weather" creek bed.  It only has water in it when it rains a lot.  However, that is enough to have spawned the growth of several huge cottonwood trees.  I love sitting on our back porch in the morning and watching the sun come up above these large cottonwood trees. 

At a certain time in the fall, the sun rises exactly in the middle of a triangular shaped opening between two of these big cottonwood trees.  It sort of reminds me of Stonehenge!  Here is a picture I took last fall of this spectacle.

Last week we experienced what, in the weather world, is called a "downburst".  This occurs when an area of significantly rain-cooled air reachs ground level and spreads out in all directions producing strong winds. Unlike winds in a tornado, winds in a downburst are directed outwards from the point where it hits land or water.   During the downburst, we had 70 to 80 mile per hour winds.

Oddly enough, we had very little damage to our home or out-buildings.  There were a few small limbs blown down and items, like buckets, blown around, but no real damage.  Unfortunately, one of these big old cottonwood trees was unable to withstand the force of the wind and was basically twisted off at ground level.  Here is a picture of the damage.

It is sort of odd, but I have found that the destruction of this tree has rocked my world to some extent.  Just the fact that something so majestic can be brought down by the forces of nature makes me feel a little vulnerable.  Plus, I have a mathematical background and like for things to be symmetrical.  That is no longer the case with the "skyline" to the east of us.  Here is what it looks like now.