Can someone help me understand something about Abbott's disability? Would never make light of

[Hekate]

24. The house next door has a California Live Oak that dropped a branch before we moved in...

No particular reason. It was found to be healthy enough — 6 years later it’s still beautiful. The tree was subsequently pruned, of course, as needed every handful of years.

Anyhow, given the size of all the remaining branches, and given the size of the trail it left through their yard and our fence, it had to have weighed several hundred pounds.

Eucalyptus are notorious for abruptly giving up the ghost. When I was working for County Public Works, I had a frantic phone call one morning from a man trapped in his house by a street tree across the road that fell into his front yard and blocked his front door and driveway — on what was supposed to be his first day at a new job.

Another time I drove past Burger King and saw a new pickup truck in their lot crushed end to end by a fallen eucalyptus. All four tires flattened, windows blown out.

My in-laws had some nameless backyard tree that dropped a major branch one night, probably 200 pounds. They ultimately had the tree removed.

Like you, I don’t know the particulars of Abbott’s accident, if a whole tree fell on him or “just” a branch. I just know something like that has the capacity to kill you — or leave you crippled.