The modest “crack” of last night turns out to have been masking a much bigger catastrophe: two magnificent trees, whose upper branches were even with the ninth floor, both fallen. One is laying on top the other now, and I’d be tempted to say that the first knocked the second down, except that both of them tipped over right at the base, where the roots failed to hold. Here are some pictures:

• This is the view of the first tree through the apartment window.
• This is the same tree from the ground, facing the building.
• This is the base of the second tree.
• Here’s a shot where you can see both of them.

I’m fairly bummed about this, because they were big, beautiful trees that made for a pleasant view. There’s still plenty of foliage across the way, but we now have a much nicer vantage point with which to observe traffic on Route 50. Whoopee. There’s an up side, though: once they get the trees cleared out and landscape a bit, that lawn will be perfect for bocce or croquet.