The subdivision I live in was once part of a farm that dates back into the late 1800s-early 1900s. By the time of the Great Depression it must have fallen into disuse, and the CCC planted it in pines. Over the years, the pines matured and several folks, including myself, have had the mature pines cut for lumber. One of my neighbors is having the ones in front of her home cleared as I type.
In a pine planting such as this, you’ll get “volunteer” trees-pine seedlings from the original trees that have to grow fast to reach sunlight. These trees are usually small in diameter relative to their height. They can make a nice source of wood for smaller dimensional lumber and are often cut from among the bigger trees for that use. Sometimes they’re just weak, and the snap off during a storm. And when people move in and start building houses on the old pine plantation land, sometimes they’re just in the way and they get cut.
The problem is the stumps. Pine stumps can go for years before they rot away, and if covered with soil, sometimes they can go for a lot of years. Maybe 40-50 years. But one day, eventually the stump has mostly rotted to nothingness, and a hole opens up where the tree once stood. When that’s in the middle of what is now “lawn”, that can be a problem.
You see where this is going, don’t you?
Last night, I had to spray my roses for the thrice-damned June Bugs and change out the bags on the June Bug traps. (For those of you not from the South, June Bugs are known elsewhere as Japanese Beetles.) I’m walking across the yard, and then suddenly I’m crashing to the ground amidst the rather unmistakable sound of aged human connective tissue being stressed past its limits. I collapsed probably 2/3 of my weight on the leg, and honestly, I’m probably lucky that nothing broke. The knee also took some damage, but so far they think it’s minor. Osteo consult is being scheduled, “just in case”.
For now it’s stay off my feet as much as possible and practice the RICE protocol. Looking that up, I see that there is some new thought on the subject, but I’ll wait for the osteo folks’ input before experimenting on myself. I guess some more quality time with the PT folks is also in my future.
Dammit.
