Fortune Teller
I was called to a site at a wetland area to check the safety and health of a large tree. A 2-foot-diameter silver maple was standing in water, covered in vines running to the top of the tree and so thick you couldn’t see the bark. It was sitting on the edge of a swamp with large, pointed stones sticking up skyward. It was too risky to step out on a stone and chance slipping and getting hurt.
The owner was a gifted palm reader and adviser and asked me my thoughts. I told her I was sorry, but I wasn’t going to be able to get a full examination of the tree because of the risk.
She immediately proclaimed, “I need to know if that tree is safe.” I came back and told her, “You are the fortune teller, you tell me.”
I left, and the tree is still there after 15 years.
Richard Drake
Canton City Arborist
Canton, Ohio
