Here In Mandan – A Sad Day For Me – “Goodbye Old Friend”

First of all, I am well aware that most people won't care, AND might think I'm a bit of a wimp for feeling sad...

...but I don't care, I really don't. I have worked here for over three years now, and the very first thing I noticed when I drove up to our radio station here in Mandan, on the strip, were these HUGE beautiful trees. Today is May 9th, 2023 - our engineer told me just yesterday that our radio transmitter has been here since the late 1920s - the Bismarck Tribune has a historic photo of the front of our building, with THE tree to it's left...where it stood...till this afternoon.

From the Walleye studio window 7 days a week, 365 days a year - my friend stood majestically close by...

...surviving the most brutal blizzards Mother Nature threw at it. Embracing who knows how many "Thousands of other lives" NATURE lay upon the protected branches.

I heard the talk around our building that SOON some of the trees were going to come down, to make way for a parking lot - but I refused to accept it and put it out of my mind. Sadly, though we were asked to move our cars this morning so the workers had enough room for the enormous rig to eventually haul both trees out.

The ONE Chainsaw started, the sound that made my stomach ache...

...progress right? Yeah. It took less than 5 minutes for the life of my friend to be brought down to earth - where it began AT LEAST 50 years ago.

Hope it's one hell of a parking lot.