Lucky Not Hit by Fallen Tree

We arrived at the river and as usual I begin noting what has changed from the last time I was there. Sand banks change, logs and rocks move and the clarity of the river varies. I also take time to look for interesting rocks on the river banks. When we arrived at the joining of the two rivers we heard and saw rocks and dirt falling down the hillside, across the river. Roxy immediately went as close as possible to determine if it was some type of intruder and to see if any action was required on her part. She looked for a moment and then retreated away from the river.

I began looking for rocks and thought to myself, if that tree falls, this isn’t a good place to be looking for rocks, so I walked up river a little way and busied myself with rock hunting. I glanced back to see if Roxy was still there, but didn’t see her. She often gets bored if I spend too much time in one place and she will go find something else interesting to look at. I found a couple of really cool crystal rocks and then, sure enough, I heard loud crackling, crumbling, crushing sounds of that extremely large tree falling! RUN! I ran as fast as I could up river, away from the falling tree, not knowing how large its crown was and if I was going to make it. I ran until the noise stopped.

I decide to head back up to our house in hopes that Roxy was there. Just as I got to the top of the 230 stairs leading up from the river I see John and Roxy is with him. John heard the tree fall from the house and knew it came from the direction I was in so he left to see if we were OK. As he walked down the property Roxy was coming up the road and found John and began whimpering. I will never know where Roxy was when that tree fell, but I think it scared her so much she ran home for help. John started the decent to look for me and luckily we saw each other without crossing paths on different trails.
Just the other day I was telling my girlfriend that we live in an environment that requires for us to be watchful of our every move. This paradise is beautiful, but comes with its share of dangers. We need to watch where we step, what we touch and where we choose to stand. I feel lucky I was paying attention to my intuition and chose to look for rocks, just a few meters out of harm’s way.
The first picture is one of the rocks I found this morning. It will forever have the falling tree memory associated with it! The second picture is the only one I took that shows the tree before it fell, it is taken looking down river. The last picture is the fallen tree, it is taken looking up river.