Not entirely gone with the wind

For 140 years, this cedar of Lebanon (photographed with my husband and mother-in-law) grew in the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid, one of my favorite places.

Last week, it fell. Weeks of rain had softened the soil around it roots, then a windstorm blew it down. It weighed two and a half tons.

But it won't disappear. Some of the wood was given to sculptors. Some will be taken to the garden's workshop and be made into benches or turned into compost to nurture other plants. And two luthiers took a 100-kilo piece of a branch to use to make musical instruments. Someday, you may dance to the music of majestic tree.

— Sue Burke