if a tree falls in the ditch...

...does it still make a sound (a rip-off of a famous question about trees falling in a forest)

Relatively speaking, we don't have many trees in eastern South Dakota. When you're out in the countryside there may look like a good amount of "forest" at eye level across the landscape, but back it off to space and look at say all of my county at once from a satellite like Landsat, and no, you don't see much for trees, except maybe a ribbon of gallery forest along the Big Sioux River. This is a concept I struggle to covey to some of my fellow members of this and other forums that come from truly forested regions. I know some have struggled to wrap their heads around we here in se SD don't really have any forests besides something like Newton Hills or maybe a really thick big shelterbelt.

So watching a graceful (if these trees can be called that) line of old cottonwoods come down on one of the ways to my work place sort of bummed me out last week. I know a lot of people don't like cottonwoods and they are a relatively short-lived tree compared to some common species (125-150 years is about their max life span) but they are about as majestic as we get for trees in eastern SD. Sitting under the shade of one on a hot day on the bank of a river or the edge of a lake is a pretty good deal. But alas trees can't stand in the way of progress or whatever reason this land owner decided cut this long planted row of big trees down. Maybe he did it so he can move his 36-row combine head down the road without having to fold it up. Or maybe he did it because he just could. Hope the cows in that pasture enjoy more sun and find their only shade under a raggedy patch of willows in the corner. I bet they'll mss the old trees some...