Image stolen from the National Park Service.
1) A tree or limb that is either dead, or has some structural fault, that is hanging over, or leaning toward a trail or sites where people congregate.
2) What a widowmaker used to be, before it went to work for the government.
Formerly untamed, wild-haired, restless, and unpredictable, it might have killed randomly, raining death from on high, but no longer.
Now it stands upright, in place, a shamed tree, wearing a sign, surrounded by yellow caution tape, waiting. Its only goal in life has become, as with all government employees, simply to live long enough to retire.
Any mishaps (let alone unfortunate deaths) that it may cause will ruin its chances. Will, in fact, result in its condemnation, followed shortly by the arrival of a work crew bearing chain saws and towing a chipper on wheels, and they will reduce it to flakes of nothingness known as beauty bark which will then be spread anonymously across an "interpretive trail", to be endlessly tramped on by clueless boofers.
Have anything worth adding? Then try sosayseff@gmail.com
Me? Still sniffing hamsters. It's fun!
Etc...
so says eff: sporadic spurts of grade eff distraction
definitions: outdoor terms
fiyh: dave's little guide to ultralight backpacking stoves
boyb: dave's little guide to backpacks
snorpy bits: nibbling away at your sanity
last seen receding: missives from a certain mobile homer
noseyjoe: purposefully poking my proboscis into technicals