Or, to be precise, the drought hits my backyard.
Yesterday the second of two enormous oak trees that have fallen in the same area in the past month came crashing down.
About a year ago an even bigger and more beloved oak in vicinity split apart and fell. Here's a basic phone pic that gives a sense of the chaos and devastation.
Drought related you must figure. I'm still shaken.
Kit Stolz 
Oh, I am so sorry to see this. Were there any signs of stress before they fell?
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That’s the really troubling thing. They looked great. Vibrant and green. Heard — I think from arbologist Mike Inuba — that mature oaks send down taproots that can feed the leaves and encourage growth even in the most adverse of conditions, but the combination of growth and weight and extreme heat makes oak wood. The tree that just fell did not have any apparent heart rot, as did the other two big oaks that fell.
It’s upsetting. Thanks for your kind words. We do have younger trees that appear to have died in the past month or so, just to add to our concern.
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Meant to say…”makes oak wood brittle.”
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or “makes oak wood” because now it’s firewood. Yikes. We better get our trees looked at. I’m sorry, Kit!
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