A tribute

Sitting in a meeting today I received a call from the HyWy, which I decided to take as I was curious what she might be calling about. With sadness in her voice she said that she was walking from our apartment to work and noticed that workers were cutting down a big tree on a hill down the street from our apartment. As soon as she said 'the tree' I knew which one she was talking about. The picture below from Google StreetView shows the tree in question.
As you can see there was ample shade provided and the nice branches, which were not very high off the ground that were perfect to climb up on. Both the HyWy and I would regularly visit the tree together or alone to sit in it's shade and in it's branches. The branches provided a nice spot to look at the lake and feel secluded when I had a long day or a lot on my mind. For me the tree was a refuge. Just this past weekend I sought refuge and the only reason I didn't go to the tree was because there was already someone there. I look back with sadness on what was my last interaction with the tree and today without any warning it was taken from us. The interesting thing is that I wouldn't characterize myself or the HyWy as ones who would typically be moved by this. However, there was something about this tree and the HyWy put it best when she said it reminded her of her childhood. With it's removal we ourselves become more removed from the innocence of our youth.