Fewer pecans this season

I never learned the answer (if there is one) to the rhetorical question, "If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound?" Not many heard a major limb snap off a pecan tree near the entrance to Moss Creek plantation at Hilton Head, SC, on June 4, during an electrical and rain storm which passed through the area, but certainly it must have sounded loud and clear.

A similar storm  has been a daily feature for a few days and the forecast is for more such storms for the balance of the week. This one of many pecan trees in the area but the first one to suffer such damage this season. The same general area also houses dozens if not hundreds of giant, sprawling oaks, some of which are at least 100 or more years old.

Being a relative newcomer to Moss Creek I do not know who harvests the pecans when they are ready but it is obvious there will be fewer this season than in the past.
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Trees

Over the weekend I was out with some friends on their boat and while looking at the shore and the far away horizon I got to wondering about the stand of trees in the distance. Tall, strong, almost regal. It was not anything unusual, similar sights are visible everywhere. Riding along an Interstate through the low country or in the mountains one sees the same. Off in the distance trees appear uniform in height like an army on parade. So even, so neat-looking. Why is it like this, I wondered? Do trees talk to each other and say “conform, stay in line?” Walk down a busy city street and look ahead as far as you can see and the eye will treat you to a smorgasbord of heights and shapes. Even if you look down a long, wide boulevard, such as in Paris, you will notice differences. There is always someone taller who breaks the continuity of the line. Not so with trees in the distance. Tree tops appear even, more disciplined and I wonder how this comes about. Trees compete for the sunlight to help them grow. It seems they willingly share and not one is hoggish. Is this why on the horizon the line of trees appears so even? Assuredly, I know when you get up close you will notice differences, but looking at the horizon all is orderly and unbroken.

These are just some recent random thoughts I have about trees. I have not given much thought to trees in years, living as I did in a metropolitan area with more asphalt and concrete than greenery. My new home (Moss Creek plantation, Hilton Head, SC) is surrounded by trees, grass and two golf courses. I had almost forgotten how pleasurable it is to look around and see giant oak trees with massive trunks and limbs testifying to decades, if not centuries, of growth. It is, all in all, a most pleasant experience.