Nowadays, it's never quite clear to me what a dead tree constitutes;
I mean outside the straightforward descriptors, dead and tree. To a
pre-letterboxing me, a dead tree was a still upright, very tree-like
entity. Though it may be leafless and its xylum run dry, in the
deep of winter it still exudes the essence of living tree.

This description differs from the "dead trees" I've searched for in
some of my recent letterboxing adventures. These "dead trees" are
what I formally would call "fallen trees," "logs," "branches," "lawn
gnomes," etc. I personally think if a tree is no longer erect, it's
no longer a tree, it's just wood. Perhaps since the original
posting of clues, the ever seditious mother nature has ravished
these former dead trees and left them as mere wood. Of course these
clues aren't wrong, and finding trees dead, fallen, alive, or in any
other state is still part of the adventure, so I have no complaints
and propose no changes to terminology. What I'm getting at is that
the remaining "dead trees" that struggle every day against the
elements to remain strong and upright truly deserve some distinction
from the ones who fell before them.

Saluting the tall, proud, and leafless,
Jesman Bologna