This tree and our family goes back a long ways. Part of its base is gone now but the memory is still there. Our son was a young boy when we used to take a few hours off and go hiking in our favorite pasture. The kids and I came upon this old tree and we were marveling at its size and wished it could tell us its story. Our son found a small hole in the knarled base and as he stuck his hand down into it I warned him not to do that because it could be the home of a raccoon family. When he looked in the hole some thing was looking back at him. He jumped back adn tried to tell me there was something in there while grabbing his chest and explaining "My heart is beating so fast". Aaahhh, memories!