Friday, August 7, 2020

Storm Damage at My Cottage

Tree work done yesterday.

What a day. I got tree men to stop at my house quite by accident. The tree that was uprooted and over the road blocked them from going to another job so their supervisor said they could cut up the tree that was tangled in the power lines. This huge old black walnut held its ground until the very last instant. They could not understand why it would not let go. They had the other end cradled in a sort of rope hammock so it would not bounce back and sever the wires. They connected the rope to another higher tree in the woods to absorb the shock. The whole crew worked tirelessly and did a super job except for the debris cleanup on the street which I had to do as best I could with no leaf blower. I did the minimum work on the street and then concentrated on my own yard. I worked for 3 hours piling branches at road's edge cut side out for County cleanup later. The tree was in County owned parkland. I have been trying for almost 20 years to have them cut it down but all they would do was assure me the tree would not hit my cottage. Instead it disrupted power on my street for going on 5 days. The linemen are coming next to deal with the power lines. I am thankful for my generator and for being a strong, independent woman! The other side of my back driveway to the right of this photo does not show. Picture with your mind's eye lots of cut logs in front of my grove of spruce trees and a leaning telephone pole with twisted and sagging lines. See you later. xo UPDATE: Power restored Friday night at 9PM. So happy! This is the longest period I have been without power since I got my generator. I felt sorry for the people in the dark for 4-1/2 days and used my electricity sparingly. Winter without power is much worse than summer with its long days.

6 comments:

Pam said...

What a mess these storms can create! I'm sorry that you've had to work so hard to clean up the debris, Rosemary, but thankful that you and your beautiful home are safe. I hope things will return to normal very soon! xoxo

Lisa D. said...

OMG, that is one huge tree! Five days without power. What a nightmare. It was very forward-thinking of you to put in a generator. I'm glad you're safe, Rosemary. I hope your neighbors are safe as well. Take care.

jusaweecatnap said...

What a story. We live next to a VFW with a wooded area behind it. One old tree on their side of the fence is obviously in bad shape and will fall into our yard one day, perhaps hitting our shed. I asked repeatedly to have them cut it down. I finally sent a registered letter to them saying thus so I can at least collect money from them when it happens. Otherwise, it is "an act of God" and they have no obligations. I don't know what the legal entanglements are for parkland. I remember many years ago someone gave my father $400 for a walnut tree on our property. Maybe it would have been worth cutting down before rather than after the storm. Glad you're ok. We had more severe storms today. I hope you didn't get them too.

Penelope Bianchi said...

I am so sorry, Rosemary. What a magnificent tree.......I adore trees and hate to lose a single one.
I am happy you have a generator.

Yikes.

Best of luck getting back to normal soon....... Love to you!

Anonymous said...

bless you Rosemary! xoxo

Karen said...

I am happy it didn't hit your house. I would hate having no power for
4 1/2 days! Glad the linemen helped with it.
Karen