Fall fell with a “thud” this weekend after two nights of subfreezing temperatures.

The green ash tree in my front yard went from fully leafed to fully bare branches seemingly overnight due to two days of unseasonably cold temperatures.

On Friday morning, after the first night of subfreezing temperatures, I went outside and leaves were falling like rain from many of the uppermost branches and the lawn was covered with a thick layer of green leaves.

On Saturday morning, after the second night of subfreezing temps, the tree had but a few leaves on its lower branches. All of the other leaves had landed beneath the tree in a perfect circle just outside the outer edge of its canopy.

Of course I was immediately concerned with the health of this 25-year-old tree, especially after reading recent reports of a looming ash tree crisis.