Local monster

This tree stands at the corner of the block, and I'd simply never noticed it before - not in the 23 years of living here.

 The trunk twists back on itself - how did it get like that?

 It seems to do a complete loop -

 Contorition! -

 This is the view that caught the corner of my eye -

and my reaction was, "Wait a minute, what's going on? This needs to be photographed! Or drawn!"

Around here, trees keep disappearing - some street trees are diseased and possibly dangerous, and trees in gardens become a nuisance to the owner or to neighbours and are cut down - one suspects this may be done without checking whether there's a tree preservation order. Trees take a long time to grow and it's sad to see them go.