If This Ol' Pepper Tree Could Talk!!

Got a call yesterday, in the middle of S. CA's biggest rain storm in 10-15 years, that the old pepper tree on my mother-in-law's property in Yorba Linda came down.  Thank goodness, no one was hurt and no significant property damage.

Perhaps one of Yorba Linda's oldest CA Pepper trees

I have some sentimental attachment to this old Pepper.  I can remember when I first started dating my wife and seeing this big tree in her front yard.  I do believe we walked down and sat under it a few times :-).  I would have been about 17 at the time, which means 40 years ago (yikes!).  Even back then, the tree looked huge and full-grown.  Makes me think this tree is probably a good 100 years old.  

This old tree's seen many,many changes over the last 100 years in Orange County... incredible changes, from open fields, orange and avacado groves, and dusty roads, to the sprawling metropolis it is today.  One thing I love about my mother-in-law's property is it looks amost exactly as it did back in the 50's!

Close up of Pepper tree... one part of trunk is still intact, but likely not for long!

The diameter of the trunk of this old Pepper is approximately 6 feet.  There is still one offshot of the trunk intact, but the tree is so lopsided, it's only a matter of time before the whole thing comes down.  

Bee hive in tree hollow



I noticed a big hollowed-out area at the base with bees flying all over the place. Slowly, carefully, I got closer in hopes of getting a picture (and trying my best not to get stung!).  Can't see it too well in the pic, but here it is.  Look closely, and you can see the bees buzzing around.  A moment of silence, please, for a wonderful old Pepper tree!