Once again, I'm slipping in under the wire, posting at the end of the month simply because I cannot bear to have an empty month in the archives.
So here's some photos of a pine tree that was struck by lightning - only 100 feet or so from the house. One of the few exciting things to happen around here and I wasn't even home to witness it.
I'd always liked this raggedy old pine because it had somehow managed to be the only tree on this open field to survive the kudzu - although the kudzu did kill the bottom branches. I spent many hours removing all the kudzu from the pine in hopes that it would thrive. I doubt it will survive this lightning strike, though I can still hope.
As always, you can click on the photos to embiggen.
Intense heat turned moisture in the tree to steam and blasted off strips of bark up to 30 feet away.
The bottom seven feet of the trunk was scorched black.
You can see the house in the background.
The tree as seen from the poop deck (aka the front porch).
