There's a place in Minnesota where Dutch elm disease didn't hit the three types of trees that it affects. No one knows why; it's been studied - trees from the area, if transplanted, get it. The location is very carefully guarded.

I saw a surprising number of them along the boulevards in Standish a few years ago. I was taken aback by their apparent health.

If treated every year, they can be kept going. There was one near my house with a trunk 4 feet in diameter. It changed owners and was dead in 3 years.

Some people have no sense of civic pride or responsibility.

A real tragedy. There was a cute cottage on the lakeshore, bought for $400K. It got bulldozed for a hideous McMansion AirBnB party house.