This branch in the office is the only place that was damaged on the first floor. There are at least three more branches in the attic.
This was no little tree. The tree service is working on it now, so that we can get the roof covered. What you can’t see is the star magnolia that has been obliterated by the tree.
We have been in our home twenty-five years. We spend a lot of time looking out the windows at the wildlife. I knew there were two species out there that I hadn’t seen, but this was my year to see them!
We have been seeing robins through out the winter! About fifteen years ago I attended an Empty Nester breakfast with my mother, (I know…that sounds odd. 🙂 She lived with us.) There was a speaker following the breakfast, who talked about local birds, and she said that we have robins year round. I’m sure I made a face when she said that, because I had NEVER seen a robin in the winter. Well, the woman was right. I have no idea what they are eating, bur we have seen robins all through the winter, despite the fact that it’s been one of the worst winters on record. Mother and DH and I used to have a race to see who was the first to sight a robin in the spring, Little did we know that our birding skills were sadly lacking.
The second species that I have finally seen is coyote. I’ve heard them, and seen them a mile away. I’ve heard neighbors talking about being afraid for their small children and dogs, but I’d never seen one on our land. In the last six weeks I’ve seen at least three. The first looked pretty bad. It’s fur looked torn, and it was emaciated. No doubt anything it was used to eating was hibernating, and feet of snow weren’t making things any easier.
I saw a second trotting through north of the house, on an east to west route. It looked as though it planned to cut through all the back yards as it hunted. The third was a healthy looking young adult, sitting at the base of a choke cherry shrub quietly watching for any bird activity at the feeder. We had a freak day of rain, following six weeks of arctic freeze and about 60 inches of snow. The coyote was sitting quietly in the downpour, hoping for a bit of breakfast. When he saw me watching him, he moved off to the north. This winter has been really tough for anything that doesn’t have shelter.
Robins and coyotes. I wonder what else we will see before we move?
I admit it for all to see: I’m a tree hugger.
Twenty-five years ago we bought a wooded lot, to build our home. It was filled with mature trees and rough areas where trees had fallen. The only place to situate the house was in an area of very old pear and apple trees. It nearly killed me to have to give them up. I managed to save two of each kind, and two of the pears and an apple tree are still with us after all these years.
We left the rough areas as passage for wildlife (and barrier from our neighbors). Woodpeckers, dozens of other birds, raccoons, deer, coyotes, skunks and the neighbor’s cats and dogs all find the area interesting.
It became apparent that we were going to have to take down pods of trees at two corners of the house. The trees had reached old age and died off and there was no doubt that they would land on the house one day, so we hired a tree service to bring them down. It was fascinating to watch, but I was very sad to see them go. The shade around the house had changed, and the view out the sky lights showed a lot more sky. Still, my favorite tree of all, a HUGE evergreen, was still there. We communed every morning through the skylight, as I dressed.
That is, until last Thursday. We were eating a late dinner when we heard a terrible thump. It had been raining all day, one of those freakish warm days following six weeks of arctic cold. The rains had given over to very high gusts of wind when the house shook. We both went to see if we could tell what had happened.
At first there didn’t seem to be anything wrong. Whew…missed the bullet again. Then, I walked into the office and discovered bits and pieces of drywall on the floor. I looked up and saw a branch about 3″ wide jutting 15″ into the room right where the ceiling and the wall meet. At that point, I could hear Dear Husband above me in the attic, counting holes in the roof. At least four branches from the upper part of the tree pierced the roof.
We have been very lucky. The rain had stopped, and the temperature had dropped again, so we didn’t have water pouring or dripping in the holes. The heavy part of the tree didn’t hit the house. We have a tree service coming today to cut back the tree so the damage can be assessed. They will have to bring in a crane to support the trunk so that it won’t swing into the side of the house once the branches are cut off. Luckily, we have insurance that will cover the tree removal.
So, we have at least four holes in the roof. We’ll need new shingles, and plywood cladding and whatever else went into making our roof. We’ll need a new stretch of gutter and soffit. It’s possible that we might need some bricks replaced. And, we will need drywall and paint in the office.
Oddly, all that isn’t bothering me terribly. It can all be fixed. But, my favorite tree is gone, and when it came down, it took out my second favorite tree, a beautiful mature star magnolia. The view out my skylight, and the view out my office window are both terribly bare and I won’t get to see the magnolia bloom this spring after a winter of anticipation.
I’m tree hugger. These trees were my friends and I feel their loss.
We have a fourteen-foot stake-bed truck that we inherited when our company closed. It has a snow plow, which has been very necessary this year with a minimum of 14″ of snow in the past month. Unfortunately, the plow wouldn’t lift. My surgery got in the way, or we would have had it repaired early in the month. I finally pushed DH into the work necessary to make it possible to drive to the repair shop. They discovered it wasn’t the plow motor that was the problem, but a very expensive computer part in the truck. <sigh> We brought it home, and DH spent an afternoon moving snow. When he came in he told me that we will need to make another appointment to have a brake line repaired. It’s always something. We have a drive that is more than 240 feet to the garage. We can’t do without it. The good thing is, when we sell the house, we will have a truck with a recently repaired snow plow to sell, too! 🙂
My great-great-grand nephew Henry, who is about seven months old, had open-heart surgery on Friday, and has come through it like a champ! He was in pain last night, which upset the entire family, but the docs have worked out his pain meds, and he’s doing much better, today.
Today, DH took me to see “Monuments Men,” which was a very interesting movie. I didn’t realize that we were able to prevent the theft of so much artwork, and return a great deal of it to the previous owners. My understanding is that there are still thousands of paintings lost, but many of them, including those by Picasso, were burned, and others were taken by the Russians, so we won’t ever have a clear picture of what might yet be found.
I am healing nicely from my hernia surgery. I’m going to return to exercise on Monday, which will be just three weeks and two days after the surgery. The doc said I could do the footwork of the cardio session, but nothing that might pull on my stitches. I need to get back to exercise or I’ll be a puddle very shortly!
I need to think of something spectacular to do for DH for Valentine’s Day! He has been an amazing nurse, and good companion, seeing me through the past three weeks. He deserves special recognition.
And, I’m ready for Spring. My mind is full of cold frames, and seeds and plant catalogs. I don’t need another month of snow, thank you very much. Everyone….THINK POSITIVE!
