Two red maples dropped

The most significant work done outside lately was taking down a red maple duo with the bowsaw across yesterday and today.  Both trees were showing signs of dieback.  Cutting will occur soon, with about 35 pieces 22" long being hiked up to the house for splitting and one last cut.  This view looks south, toward the house, which is a bit over 500 feet away.  Some wood will also be harvested from the broken red maple visible in the upper right of the picture.

Five consecutive days of wonderful sunshine is another piece of great news.  The panels will create about 330 kw/hrs of electricity from Friday's sunrise to sunset today.  That's about 12 1/2 days of electricity in 5 days.

Doomed young birches

Thankfully there's no shortage of young paper birches on Hardwood Hermitage.  So many never survive into adolescence.  Three were victims of a fallen red maple over the last few days.  Like the bigger tree that sealed their fate, the trio of doomed birches will eventually become firewood.  Forests include much splendor and beauty, but they also bring destruction and death.

Limited problems from wind storm

Ferocious winds started late on Monday, lasting through much of Tuesday.  Power was never lost, and a long walk this morning showed no notable damage in the woods.  All is as it should be for early March:  Cold, lots of snow on the ground still, and birches shining in the sun.