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Trees

You may have noticed that we’ve had a lot of trees in the paper lately.

A focus on the natural world around us isn’t exactly something new for us – Ken Moore’s Flora column (on the front page of The Citizen each week) is one of the most-read items in the paper, and we know that’s cause y’all have an appreciation for all things green and growing (and for Ken’s expertise). But in a recent issue, we found ourselves with no fewer than three articles focusing on trees (and four photos of trees, to boot).

A couple of weeks ago, lightning struck one of the beloved willow oaks on the Weaver Street lawn and readers informed us of the damage within a few hours. We sent a photographer out there a few days later, and he found lawn-regular Bruce Thomas adorning the tree’s wound with bright flowers. Other readers asked us about the tree’s prognosis, and still others sent in photos they’d taken.
Days later, a storm struck Carrboro and Chapel Hill, and within a matter of minutes trees were down around town, taking out power lines, roofs and cars as they fell. The storm is mostly cleaned up now, but a few ragged stumps and branches are still visible.

This is all to say that trees have had a pretty rough couple of weeks around here, so forgive us if we’re giving them a lot of play. It seems like they’re pretty important to y’all, right?
–Susan Dickson