High Winds

The coast had almost two weeks of intermittant storms and high winds. One gust, just a mile up the bay from us, was clocked at 89 mph. Lots of rain makes for wet ground, which renders the shallow rooted alder trees very fragile when the winds kick up over 30 mph.
At 2 a.m. a few nights ago, mom and I met each other in the kitchen, unable to sleep because of the howling wind and whipping rain on the windows. The power was flicking in and out, which is a nuisance because you have to reset every electric clock and contraption in the house!

The next day revealed a downed tree in the park just below mom's house. This old alder smacked right through one of the newly painted picnic tables. Fortunately, we only had a lot of limbs and a boatload of leaves in the front yard. THIS time we're waiting until the weatherman says the storm systems are through for a few days before we rake that yard!

I'm making a private wager with myself on just when that pesky tree hanging over the neighbor's fence will stop sharing all it's leaves with us. I thought the maple in the backyard was going to hang onto those last five leaves until Christmas, they just wouldn't give up. But they are now decorating the hedge, so there's hope for that tree out front...