It has been two years since I last updated this blog!
I was on vacation with my family when high winds blew through our town unexpectedly and uprooted hundreds of trees in less than 10 minutes last week. It was a strange storm, I'm told. Furious and dark, according to those who lived through it. And everyone did live through it--while the storm imposed hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages to homes and cars and motorcycles and power lines, there were no reported injuries, nor any rumored injuries, to people or even to pets. Our next-door-neighbor's Golden Retriever was in his backyard when our 75-foot-tall, 100-year-old Silver Maple went kerplunk over the fence. The dog, fortunately, ran for cover when the tree began its descent, which we're told took all of a few seconds. Unfortunately, the neighbor's brand new patio and landscaping were destroyed.
This is when you are thankful that you remembered to pay the insurance bills on time.
I'm not upset about the loss of the maple, even though it was the only tree that we could hang a swing on in our yard. And it provided nice shade, and it was a haven for the squirrels who've been mercilessly chased, but never caught, by our dogs. Even with all of those excellent qualities gone, I don't miss the tree--I have no sentimental attachment to it whatsoever! Perhaps this is a function of age, or the fact that I've been there, done that when it comes to trees falling suddenly, wrecking havoc. Once, while Husband and I were reading the newspaper in our previous house, we heard a loud cracking noise and found, upon looking out the window, that a large, beautiful Bradford Pear tree had split down the middle, taking out our swingset, playhouse and dozens of bushes. One of our daughters despaired that she no longer had "an escape route in case of fire", and she drew pictures of the tree for weeks to come. I lamented the loss of the tree that bloomed like an Easter bonnet each spring. But after the dead tree and all the debris were removed, I planted a garden using transplanted perennials from my other garden plot: lupines, columbine, and day lilies, for the most part.
And they grew in a place where the sun had never before been able to shine.
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