Weathering the Storms

The Mother Nature kind, and the personal ones.

The personal storm is winding down. A health related issue, now manageable.

Then, out of nowhere, Mother Nature kicks us when we are recovering. Maryland is not known for tornados. Hurricanes, sometimes. The rare earthquake. A derecho. But now, tornados are coming on a regular basis.

On the 30th of May, we got ours. A direct hit. EF-1. 100 mph winds. No warning. The alarm on the phone occurred exactly when the power went out and things started swirling around our car. No time to react.

I should feel lucky. We were under it but it wasn’t on the ground. The chimney cap was ripped off. We lost one roof shingle. The satellite fin on my SUV was lifted and flung across the yard. Trees started breaking and falling in every direction.

We lost over 100 trees along our property lines. Small cherries and one massive pin oak. Almost every white pine.

My favorite weeping cherry took out a corner of our deck.

We just finished day three of tree removal. I am dealing with noise from chippers, stump grinders, chain saws and heavy equipment. Eight hours straight.

And welcome to the insurance world. Finding out that tree removal isn’t covered except in very specific circumstances. Juggling repairs on three vehicles. It’s a full time job, almost.

Well, at least Bambi is happy.

She doesn’t need to reach high to get those tender tasty tree leaves.

Lessons Learned? Check out your homeowner’s insurance to see what the difference in price is, between a dollar deductible and a percentage deductible. Consider cutting down diseased trees. Replace the developers’ trash trees with better ones. Avoid white pines, Bradford pears, and river birches. They are all weak trees.

We now have lost our screens. From neighbor’s sheds to highway noise to wind screens, we lost most of our privacy and sound barrier.

The good news? Less leaves to rake. Less pine needles. More sun to reestablish my garden.

We were also lucky with a less than 24 hour power outage. But we did miss this TV picture taken from a helicopter.

Ninety percent of the trees in this picture are gone. They were toppled.

Hopefully I can get the county to help us replace the canopy. They have a program to plant trees. We can certainly use them.

Mother Nature really is a five letter word beginning in B.