Hangin' out with Tom

pantheraba

pantheraba

Hangin\' out with Tom

I met with Tom Dunlap yesterday and we got to visit and get to know one another a bit. The first (and only) time I had met Tom was last Aug. 2005 at the ITCC in Nashville. We got to speak briefly but he was pretty busy helping run things there.

I knew he had recently moved to the Atlanta area and we finally linked up for lunch yesterday. My son, Alex, and grandson, Hayden, met with us at the Fred's BBQ house and we had BBQ sandwiches, deep fried corn and good conversation. After lunch, I convinced Tom to let me drag him around to check several areas where oak trees are dying suddenly. He was able to point out to me an apparent gray fungus that is growing under the bark.. The smooth gray fungus is only visible after the bark falls off. He plans to bring it up at an Arbo meeting tonight and bring me up to speed on what I am seeing around here. There are at least 6 trees in a 3 block radius around me that have died suddenly...these are ones I can see easily from the road so I assume there are even more.

I got to show Tom the treehouse I built for my kids in 1990...it's ready for me to resurrect it for my grandson now. Tom had some good ideas about safety nets for the big open window on the front.

After a couple of hours of hobnobbin' and hangin' out I took him back to his TreeBuzz.com minivan so that he could head towards home.

Here is a picture of Tom and the truck we tooled around in while we viewed the arborly sites of Lithia Springs, GA.
 

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Re: Hangin\' out with Tom

So, how much did he offer you for the truck?
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Re: Hangin\' out with Tom

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I smooth gray fungus is only visible after the bark falls off.

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Hypoxylon? Post a picture?

Thanks for taking it easy on Tom. I plan to work his butt off next week!
 
Re: Hangin\' out with Tom

I have met Tom as well and truly think of him as a friend. He was gracious enough to come and give our company the rescue class. It was so much fun seeing him about in MI! Dag gonnit, I did not get to meet his brother there. I did see him though and knew straight up that was his brother.
 
Re: Hangin\' out with Tom

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I smooth gray fungus is only visible after the bark falls off.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hypoxylon? Post a picture?

Thanks for taking it easy on Tom. I plan to work his butt off next week!

[/ QUOTE ]

MB, that part was funny...he hadn't seen me drive up, so when he dropped off his personal stuff in his Buzz mobile I walked over toward my truck. He started to get in the new white Ford pickup beside the '49 and I said, "No, this old truck." His basic response was, "you gotta be scheisting me??". It was a good excuse to get out and drive around some.

Guymayor, the only camera I had with me was my Verizon phone...thus the poor quality of the Tom and truck picture...my good camera was in my '95 Dodge.

I'll go back tomorrow and get some picts if the rain lets up.

Yeah, I think you are the one he said that he is going to help build a treehouse about 45' up between 3 trees...we definitely want some good pictures of that. /forum/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
Re: Hangin\' out with Tom

We've had a swath of oaks dying in our area lately too, live and laurel. similar gray dusty fungus under the bark, normally in clumps
 
Re: Hangin\' out with Tom

Spending time with my new neighbor was a hoot! When Gary said that I HAD to have the fried corn on the cob I was expecting a batter dipped and deep fried cob. Not even close! The corn was yummy!

A guy that used to work for me would see hot looking cars, like a Lamborghini or some dolled up truck and say "That would make a nice brush hauler!" Well, Gary's truck would make a nice brush hauler if it hadn't gone through a frame-up restoration. What fun to tool around in for a couple of hours. He even had the AC cranked out...the bottom of the windshield opens up :)

There has been a lot of ambrosia beetle activity. From what I gather though, they attack weakened trees and aren't the primary killer. The patches of fungus were different than I've ever seen. Since I'm new to this area I have a lot to learn about local bugs and crud.
 
Re: Hangin\' out with Tom

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Aren't a ton of oaks being slaughtered by ambrosia beetle there too?

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Yes..... I just removed a couple of oaks with the Ambrosia beetle problem....

and hey, it's not only the oaks.
 
Re: Hangin\' out with Tom

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You have to sign in to view 'em?

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weird, I went and checked, when I was logged out it gave me a list of attached files. when I logged in it showed me the preview embedded pics.
 
Re: Hangin\' out with Tom

I don't know...sorry. I'll be out of town until Sunday...taking our Scout group climbing...will check back in then.
 
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