A sad day for the backyard

Unfortunately, the beautiful oak that we had in the center of our backyard died from oak wilt that has been going through the neighborhood so we had to take it down. Here are some pictures. I wish I had a good picture of it when it was healthy, but I can't find one.

There could be some benefits. The grass in the back will finally get some sun. It might even brighten up the house a little bit. Then again, our roof is now completely exposed. This summer we could have used some extra shade.

Before:

After:
At least we still have this tree back there. This one is a Cedar Elm (I think).
I came across this guy while I was trimming off some branches that were scraping the roof. Someone at least tell me this is a non-poisonous snake. I'm pretty sure it's a rat snake, but I don't know much about snakes at all.