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“Timber!”

3/8/2023

Tuesday February 28, 2023
From the messy desk of Amanda Eichstaedt

Hey Neighbor!

Tree Hugger (and “What’s Up Doc?”)

Don’t get me wrong, I love trees. They provide shade, fruit, oxygen, and are what forests are made of. What is not to love? I held no ill will towards the tree that fell on our house last Tuesday. The winds were fierce, and it was just one of many many trees that could not hold on any longer. And it had big roots! Must have been quite the gust that sent that big old fir heading towards the corner of our place. Thwack! 

Ken was home and saw it coming, felt the impact, and then set about to figuring out how to make things right.


When vertical is your preferred option…   photo: Amanda E.

Let’s hear it for tree guys, especially ones with cranes! A huge thank you to Nick Whitney (retired ??) and the Pacific Slope crew for their swift response. I know that we are not alone to being victims of a tree deciding that a vertical alignment is no longer favorable. Guest houses, vehicles, power lines, and occasionally people, fall prey to such tree antics. I will say that we were very lucky.

It is not the first tree to fall at our place. We have lost two big black walnuts and one giant cottonwood, and would likely have seen more Monterrey pines fall if we had not worked with our neighbors at the campground to have them removed. A few trees fell at the campground last week, along with a very large cypress behind Olema House just across the road. If you checked PulsePoint, you would see that the majority of the calls on Tuesday were trees or wires down.

One thing is for certain is that a vertical tree can easily be taken for granted, and once it falls, the biomass that has reached towards the heavens for years takes up a LOT more space on the ground than you would imagine. I have heard big trees fall when I have been out hiking the trails, and there is something so unmistakable as that sound of a giant tree beginning and then proceeding to fall. I would put that in the “epic” category of sounds.

Speaking of epic sounds!

Laurie Lewis in Marin!

   
Laurie Lewis

As many of you are aware, KWMR decided to not hold the Sweethearts of the Radio concert in 2023. I think it was a wise decision on many fronts, but it was a bit heartbreaking, especially since Laurie Lewis (no stranger to the Sweethearts stage) was on board. So if you are pining for some Laurie Lewis, she is making a rare appearance in Marin County playing at the Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley on Friday, March 3rd with her band The Right Hands. And did you know that March 3rd is also the 100th Anniversary of Doc Watson’s birth? I don’t think Laurie Lewis and friends will let that go by without some hoopla. Worth checking out!

Hot tip. Two well known Marin County residents will be on hand to help celebrate Doc Watson’s birthday at Sweetwater with Laurie and band. Both have payed with Doc. It will be a “midnight in the moonlight at the oasis” kind of a situation, if you get my drift.

Laurie will be joining me on Swimming Upstream tomorrow to catch us up on all things music in her world. I’m looking forward to that!

Amanda Eichstaedt 
Station Manager and Executive Director