If a tree falls....part one

I thought I’d written this one before (this is a recurring problem) but I looked through several hundred stories and can’t find it. I’ve told these all so many times they always seem familiar.
In the early 70’s I moved into a house in Sudbrook Park, in Pikesville, MD.

As my daughter complained in my most recent post, “even though none of you care about my ………., I will Wikipedia the heck out of it and tell you the “facts” anyway.”……

Sudbrook Park is a historic neighborhood near Pikesville, Maryland located just northwest of the Baltimore City limits in Baltimore County.

The community dates to 1889 when it was designed by American landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr. (1822–1903) and developed by the Sudbrook Company. Known most for designing well-known urban projects like Central Park in New York City, Olmsted conceived this "suburban village" with curved roads and open green spaces, traits that set the community apart from its contemporaries.

Sudbrook Park was registered on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, and from 1993 to 1999 portions of Sudbrook Park became listed as Baltimore County Historic Districts.

Today, the community continues to uphold Olmsted's vision through community association regulations. It is a tight-knit community and holds several annual events and neighborhood activities.

The house, as pictured here in about 1975, sat on an acre and a half of property and had a lovely collection of beautiful old trees.

I went out on a blustery day in the late fall, 1975, to cut some wood for the fire places. It was a windy day, and I was dressed for the weather, and took my new, trusty axe with me. I was facing toward the back of the property, about half way down the yard when I swung my mighty axe.

The sound that came from my hit was overwhelming! I had no idea what had happened, but there was a giant bang! Where did it come from? I couldn’t have done that! As my head cleared I realized the sound was from behind me, and it had occurred at the exact moment I swung the axe.

I turned around to see a giant tree, having been hit by lightning, a hundred and fifty year old one from my neighbor’s yard, coming at me! I froze for a second. The tree was stopped for a moment when it hit the power lines, burning, took out the power lines and continued it’s decent. I was much younger and I ran towards the back of my yard quite quickly. The tree landed covering my neighbor’s yard, the street between and my yard!

The neighborhood came running out to see such an event. We had downed, live electric lines, a tree still smoldering and a carnival atmosphere to boot!