Day 6 - 250 -- Aftermath

I woke to the sound of trucks and chain saws. Cleanup had begun -- and nearby from the sounds of things. The yard is covered with what a friend called 'liberated leaves' though some were still attached to twigs and branches. Power was still out and power trucks were on the street. After eating something, I decided to go for a walk to see what had transpired outside my yard. I didn't get far when I found a couple of colleagues standing on the sidewalk watching the dismemberment of a giant tree -- about 18-24 inch diameter trunk. It had been uprooted and leaned against the house my colleague lives in and when the winds shifted, so did the tree and it moved to lean against the house next door. Our local tree removal person was out there piling the debris on the front lawns. He will be back to put it all through the chipper later. He was doing all the emergency calls this morning. I will add our yard to his list for sometime down the road -- no urgency save cosmetic at this end.

I ate another cold meal for lunch and wished that something hot could be made for supper. Power had been restored to one node and the hospital by early afternoon and our section was still being dealt with by the provincial power group. Apparently, at one point this morning, about 80% of power customers in the province were without power. For many this was mercifully short. For us in this area, it was just over 27 hours when it came on again. I was sure my joyful shout was heard outside the house. Neither the furry one nor me slept well last night. I will say, he has been sleeping the usual amount, but much more deeply than a regular day. I hope that bodes well for my sleep tonight, too.

In the afternoon, I swept what the neighbour called 'salad mixed with crudites" off the front porch. Rather than fill the compost bin with only leaves, I chose to wait until tomorrow to rake up the smaller bits into a pile for pick up later. Today, I moved the larger branches around to form a pile by the side of the house. For the larger trunk (no way one person could budge that) I did nothing. For the smaller (but still large in my books) branches I did my best to align them along a singular direction. I also extricated the clothes line from the mess. It was still attached to one of the upright trunks, so only the house side had been pulled loose -- an easy fix. There is much to do and this will be a multi-day process for certain. In the meantime, all the usual weekend chores have not occurred due to lack of power. So -- that may either wait until next weekend (as in laundry and vacuum) and other tasks may need to fit into the coming days (like grocery list construction, cleaning bathrooms, etc.).

While hauling larger branches behind me or on my shoulder, I heard a line from a folk song -- "You be the mule, I'll be the plow" (from Troubled Fields). I surely felt like a mule during that 90 minute workout. I fear there may be pain tomorrow <smile>. The song I chose, was recorded b the same singer as Troubled Fields. Enjoy!

Wasn't that a Mighty Storm -- Nanci Griffith (and other voices)