During the wee hours of this morning, my beloved Bradford Pear tree https://pbase.com/britestar/bradford_pear
lost another major branch from thunderstorms.

Last August, this happened: https://pbase.com/britestar/image/173891814

Although a former shadow of itself, it still managed to hang on and flowered nicely this Spring: https://pbase.com/britestar/image/174485979 But after today's storm damage, the tree now seems to be standing only with the help of a wing and a prayer... My husband says things actually look a lot worse on the other side from which I shot the above photo of the newly broken off, huge branch. That is very bad news. I'm quite sad about all this.

Our Bradford Pear holds a special place in my heart. It was one of the first trees we ever planted and definitely has been my most photographed tree.