At our old house in Alexandria a beautiful old willow oak graced the front yard. It was the biggest tree in the neighborhood. I didn't love it so much in the fall when we were raking leaves, but the rest of the year it was my pride and joy. I loved to see its skeleton in the winter as it rested and the fresh chartreuse leaves in the early spring. It provided shade in the summer and a colorful display in autumn.The year before we moved to the Shenandoah Valley (2001), my husband and I were standing at the front door during a violent thunderstorm when a huge flash and explosion shocked us! A bolt of lightening struck the willow and later we saw that it had actually blown the bark off one side of the tree. The tree "doctor" who came to examine the willow said to water and feed it and give it a year to see if it could come back. We sold the house when the leaves were just starting to come out. Things didn't look good, and when we returned to the neighborhood some time later our beautiful willow oak was gone.
