The Witch's Broom

It’s Gone! The Witch’s Broom of Marcy Woods is gone.
On this day, April 15th, 2008 the Eastern Hemlock bearing
the anomaly has been cut down by the local Canadian Hydro people. Why? It stood in the way of a new power line. Look at my photo. See the ball of branches on the upper limbs. An air borne virus years ago landed on the tree. The result was the hemlock’s reaction by growing many little hemlock shoots. Think of the Japanese ‘bonsai’ culture in which trees are miniaturized. One Buffalo N.Y. naturalist told me. “Earl, that Witch’s Broom up there is valuable, they’re miniature hemlocks.”\
The neighbour Dunns, daughter Allison and I went to Marcy Woods to see the Wood frogs and hear their mating quacking sounds. We did. Beautiful day but alas the end of a friend, the Witch’s Broom.