Wind Storm Cleanup

Early Friday afternoon a few of a friend's landscaping work crew showed up to start cleaning up the prickly and sappy mess that was our front yard.  I wasn't expecting them and had to run out front and make sure that they knew that our phone line was stretched tight over the roots and trunk (it's the black piping and line that can be seen in the pictures on last night's post) and that we really didn't want it getting cut in the cleanup process.  I also asked them to be careful of the viburnum bushes that we were hoping to salvage on the side and to leave behind some of the thicker branches and part of the trunk so that our firewood supply could be bulked up.  They were very kind to listen to the bossy lady of the house and then got to work.  And boy, did they ever work!

I couldn't believe how fast they had that trunk stripped of branches.  Then they removed the three tops of the tree (the trunk started as one, split into two, and then topped off at three) which were collectively HUGE.  It took 3 guys yanking and pulling on the pieces to get each hauled away from against the house.  By the time they called it quits in the late afternoon much of the tree had been cut up and hauled away.  All that was left was the ginormous base of the trunk (to be removed sometime this week), a pile of branches and a few thick chunks of trunk.

After a period of windy-ness on Saturday morning and early afternoon, Max ventured out to take care of as much of the remaining tree as he could and to clean up the rest of the yard.  Can I just say now that I'm a lucky girl?  He seriously slaves away in the yard and NEVER complains about it.  Anyway, he sawed off some more of the trunk, got the aforementioned pile of branches and the big trunk pieces out into the road, filled several bags with pine cones, dirt, branches and leaves, and pretty much had our yard looking perfect again by the time he called it quits that night.  All except for that pesky tipped-over tree trunk.  As we went to bed last night we read online that a new storm with high winds (not as high as Thursday's) was due to arrive Sunday evening.

Yesterday morning we got to church a little bit late and sat down just in time to hear the bishop saying something about only holding the first/main meeting and the rest of church was cancelled.  I quietly confirmed with the people sitting behind me (happened to be our landscaper friend) that this was indeed the case.  They said that they didn't want to be alarmists but wanted to be prepared for the new storm.  All of our church's congregations in the area (a number of cities involved) were asking that all able bodied men and teenaged young men/boys  go out and help clear all loose debris from the neighborhood and the surrounding area in preparation for the forecasted storm.  Anything that could be blown away in strong winds needed to be secured to removed...everything from plant matter to vinyl siding to trampolines and swamp coolers.  After the meeting was over we all got into good work clothes and headed out to get some things done.  The kids and I helped our neighbors move a pile of roof shingles to a sheltered area where it won't blow away and picked up pieces that hadn't been collected yet.  Max, on the other hand, geared up and went to the church to join the brigade of men, women and teens that were heading out to clean up.  They had a number of open-bed trucks, SUV's and trucks with trailers, and other hauling vehicles to take away everything they could over the course of the day.  A crew of 5 or 6 men and teenagers showed up here and took everything but the heavy trunk pieces away from our place.  In driving around with the kids later, I saw crews of 10+ people working on bigger piles and jobs.  I can't tell you how impressed I was with all of these people and what they did for their neighbors, friends and even complete strangers.  Fallen trees were cut up and hauled away, trees that weren't down but were in danger of coming down oin the new storm were felled and removed and after every single job, these people jumped up and headed to the next house that needed help.  And all of this while it snowed a bit off and on and in freezing temperatures.  Max came home in the late afternoon soaked, dirty and covered in sawdust (as I'm sure many other men did, too).  Ah, the bond of a man and his chainsaw.

I learned on the news in the afternoon that the national guard had been called to aid in the cleanup effort.  The line to get into the local landfill (normally closed on Sunday but open all day for free yesterday) was literally miles long and people had to wait for hours to empty their loads.  Due to the huge number of people and vehicles involved in the cleanup effort, other landfills in the area opened for free and the city started designating other places as temporary dumping grounds...the high school, parks, church parking lots.  Once left there, crews from the city and national guard were using tractors to load up side-dumping trailers which in turn took the debris to the landfills.

As yesterday's light turned to evening and then night, I started doubting the forecastedwe live amongst amazing people who will put their plans and lives on hold at a moment's notice and step up to help each other out should anything happen.  In the end, last night's "storm" wasn't all that bad.  As a matter of fact, I think it was downright good as the preparation for it it brought people together and left us all with a great feeling of love, concern and appreciation for each other.