Riding my bicycle around town this weekend, I noticed an eerie symbol across the trunks of many boulevard trees. A white X marks the end of many once healthy, flourishing trees' lives, now infected with the dreaded Dutch Elm.

This year, city crews identified 180 trees throughout the city infected with the disease, according to Public Works Supervisor Mario Provencher. The trees must be cut down this summer to prevent the spread to other elm trees.Infected tree

Last year, Litchfield Public Works cut down about 225 trees along city boulevards and on private property. That number was up from 2006 when city crews cut down 120 elm trees.

Provencher said last year hot, dry weather could have stressed the trees leaving them more susceptible to bugs. This year, he said he’s not sure why the above-average number of infected trees. He does know, however, it will take his crews a couple of weeks to remove the trees, as they cut down between 12 and 15 a day.

Watching them remove a couple Tuesday was sort of a sad business. Crews have so many trees to remove they are methodical and quick about sawing the tree and then leaving it for the next crew to chop into pieces before a third crew hauls away the pieces with a skid loader.

But for this casual observer, it’s hard to see the decades-old trees fall so quickly without any ceremony. Yes, they are only trees, and I would not confess to being a “tree hugger” by any means. But to think that those tall elms have stood witness over Litchfield’s streets for years, and in some cases generations, is humbling. Think of the neighbors who have gathered under the shade to chat. The children who have climbed them, or used them as a safe zone in a game of tag.

For trees have a way of marking time that us humans sometimes miss in our busy lives. So while the white X marks the end of one tree, I hope it signals the beginning of another tree, which in a few decades must grow as tall and stand sentinel over as many neighborhood lives.