Earlier this summer my family and I went to a local park, with a few dozen other families, to attend a Cub Scout Crossover Ceremony. This is where each scout progresses on to the next level of scouting

The Ceremony was nice. My son got a few awards, and we took lots of photos. I helped grill the burgers, bratwurst and hot dogs. The weather even cooperated. It was a typical May day.

After all the hoopla and hulabaloo was over, the parents broke off into little groups and chit chatted while the kids played in the park.

I was conversing with another parent when I heard a loud crackling noise a few feet away from where I sat. I turned around and faced the direction of the noise, fully expecting to see a group of teenagers lighting illegal fireworks. I stood transfixed as I saw a gigantic tree falling in the direction of the swing sets the children were playing on. The crackling noise came from the massive trunk splintering under the weight of the tree.

All the parents started screaming for the kids to get away from the swing sets, and luckily all the kids understood the gravity of the situation. It took less than 5 seconds for me to hear the noise and for the tree to come to rest violently against the ground. I never knew the kids could move that fast.

I watched helplessly as my son ran directly away from the tall tree, rather than perpendicularly. As the tree hit the ground the leaves of the tallest branches just grazed his calves. He came running up to us as white as a sheet.

Children were crying, parents were consoling, but luckily no one was hurt. A pine tree that stood between the play area and the fallen tree had deflected the tree just enough to keep most of the play area safe. Its branches had been stripped off its trunk, and I’m sure that slowed the falling tree just enough to allow our kids to make their escape, and to keep from getting hurt.

After checking to make sure everyone was ok, I went over to investigate the cause of the tree’s falling. Upon reaching the splintered tree trunk it was readily apparent that termites were the culprits.

My son collected his thoughts, and after coaxing his beating heart from his throat back down to his chest, said: “Man! When that tree came down I felt wind whoosh past me, kind of like in Iron Man (the new movie), when all the little missiles explode, and made all that wind…” We all had a chuckle at his jocularity in the face of danger….and we all said a quiet prayer of thanks. We came pretty close to losing him.