We made it!
All things considered, we came through Irene very well, indeed. Even though Irene was "only" a tropical storm when it hit us, it certainly was impressive enough. The winds began to roll in around 5 on Sunday morning, and as I lay in bed, I could hear the sharp crack of trees breaking in our neighborhood. Those were the highest wind speeds I think I've ever dealt with. It was amazing how far the enormous limbs of our 80+ year old silver maple were swaying. I was certain they would come down, but the grande dame made it through with only some minor branch loss. The house was solid as a rock through the whole thing. It was built in the '50s, and so has made it through its share of storms already.
Monday, we surveyed the damage and cleaned up the yard. Our popcorn patch got flattened. I got to enjoy being slapped in the face with wet cornstalks (and disoriented spiders) as I held them up while the Husband rearranged the mud about the roots to keep them upright. We replanted our uprooted peach tree, and sawed off the broken top of one of our poplars. Otherwise, it was just a case of picking up branches and raking leaves. All in all, we came through it very well, indeed. The children were terribly disappointed when the power came back on. They wanted us to turn the lights off and pretend that we still had no electricity so that we could eat dinner by lamplight!
The start of school has been delayed to next week, as some schools are still without power, and some bus routes are still blocked by trees. I took a drive over to Rhode Island yesterday, and they got hit hard, too.
All's well that ends well, and all that...
Monday, we surveyed the damage and cleaned up the yard. Our popcorn patch got flattened. I got to enjoy being slapped in the face with wet cornstalks (and disoriented spiders) as I held them up while the Husband rearranged the mud about the roots to keep them upright. We replanted our uprooted peach tree, and sawed off the broken top of one of our poplars. Otherwise, it was just a case of picking up branches and raking leaves. All in all, we came through it very well, indeed. The children were terribly disappointed when the power came back on. They wanted us to turn the lights off and pretend that we still had no electricity so that we could eat dinner by lamplight!
The start of school has been delayed to next week, as some schools are still without power, and some bus routes are still blocked by trees. I took a drive over to Rhode Island yesterday, and they got hit hard, too.
All's well that ends well, and all that...