A woods pathway covered with crunchy, pointy little beech seeds; they look like mini horse chestnut seed pods. This hidden beech is a baby to Mae Mobley the giant beech that caused us to buy this property- and yes, if it were not for the tree, we would not be here. There were two parcels of land broken off original property that were subsequently sold to a developer. Mae Mobley’s main root was hit and she died slowly. Although a tree, it was a painful death to watch. We had a friend who was schooled in trees, horticulture, check her constantly. Once her canopy showed signs of distress, we knew it was over. Yes, we could have bought that piece of property, but who can afford taxes in a city in Jersey to begin with; a daily regret, we often talk about it- even if it ment never retiring. Hidden tree is on another property line and its roots survived construction and a cut down by seconds by the ever vigil property manager. She is loaded with seeds this year; we love to hear them hit like rain on the cottage roof. Can you love trees?? Yes! Were the religions that held them sacred right in their beliefs… We believe so. There is a calculation that you can use to guess closely without cutting down the age of a beech tree; according to it, Mae Mobley was well over 250 years old. Her hidden baby is already over 100 feet tall, and doing very well. Oh the stories old trees could tell. I don’t believe a new cheaply constructed house could do the same! But… that is just an opinion, everyone has them. We used Mae Mobley’s wood for years in wintertime to keep us warm. Her giant trunk stump put on the most beautiful display of fungus as it decomposed ; photos that I will share here. Her spirit is still here, and so is one of her babies, we are blessed.

Hidden European Beech is dropping seed pods everywhere. The pathway in back woods is marvelously crunchy underfoot. Check ALT
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