“In like a lion … out like a lamb.” Well, March didn’t disappoint. Monday morning at about 5, the wind came roaring in. I’d have to say it wasn’t exactly lion-like. As the west- driving rain hammered our windows and falling branches thudded on the roof, it was more like “In like Godzilla.”
Leaving Fat Cookie, Princess Pickle, and Johnny Jackson snoring in the bed, I got up to watch the weather. Outside, the pine trees were leaning hard to the left. The lawn chairs were rolling like tumbleweeds up the brick path and fragments of bark and twigs were blasting the side of the house.
I went back inside and turned on King Country radio. If there’s really dangerous weather coming through, the D.J. interrupts the country classics with a live weather broadcast. But George Strait’s golden voice filled the kitchen, assuring me that we weren’t in the middle of a tornado.
I poked around a little on social media and determined that the world hadn’t ended, so I crawled back in the warm bed and went back to sleep. Dawn broke and the winds subsided. Coffee was made and oatmeal was bubbling on the stove before we looked out the front window and saw that there was a tangle of pine boughs blocking the road in front of the house.
We put on our boots and rain gear and went out to have a look. A shearing wind had snapped off a big white pine and sent it crashing into its neighbor. Three other trees had been hit by the falling white pine and didn’t hit the ground, but were leaning dangerously. Branches from who-knows-where littered the street and the smell of fresh sap was sharp in the air.
Johnny started moving small branches out of the road, but a treetop remained, blocking half of Bull Run Road and making conditions unsafe. I called 911.
An operator answered and asked me for information. I gave her our address. She asked me for my name and told me help was on the way. In less than 10 minutes, her prediction came true and a fire truck complete with rolling red lights pulled up in front of the house.
I wanted to make sure that the fireman saw the dangerous leaning trees before they started working in the area, so I slogged back out to the road to tell them.
They were busy at work chainsawing and dragging branches and didn’t see me at first. I remained a respectful distance away from the chainsaw (you don’t ever want to surprise somebody that’s running one) and finally, they spotted me. They shut off the chainsaw and I introduced myself, alerting them to the leaning trees and then started helping them drag branches out of the road.
That’s when I noticed our mailbox was gone. Blown clean off the post.
The first responders rolled everything in the ditch and assured me that a road crew would be along in the next few days to clean all the tree debris out of the ditches. I thought “Great! Another chance to get those leaning trees down. Maybe I should have some fresh baked cookies on hand.” Not exactly a bribe, mind you. Just a show of appreciation for a job well done.
The next day I was outside pruning our pear tree, hoping the road crew would show up so I could talk to them about the leaning trees. When what before my wondering eyes should appear but the Carroll County Road Team and a bus full of trustees. They unloaded and went quickly to work getting the branches and logs out of the ditches, loading them into the truck.
I approached a uniformed guard who was watching the trustees and pointed out the leaning trees. “It’s not if they’re going to fall, it’s when. And look how close they are to the power lines.”
He walked over and examined them. He scratched his chin and pondered. “They do look pretty bad. But I’m going to have to get my supervisor to make this call.”
I thanked him kindly and headed into the house to clean up the breakfast dishes, all the while watching out the window to see their progress.
The trustees were working hard, clearing up the ditches and roadside. They were getting close to being done and I gave up hope of getting the three trees cut.
“Ah, well.” I thought. “Johnny will just cut them down himself.” I made a mental note to make sure that life insurance policy I have on him is current.
Just then, a bucket truck rolled up, followed by a dump truck for loading out the debris. They started unloading big chainsaws from the truck and circling around, looking up at the puzzle of leaning trees.
As the first chainsaw cranked, I knew it was time to preheat the oven and get those cookies started. Oatmeal raisin for a job well done.
March 06, 2021 at 05:30AM
https://ift.tt/3rnuRIp
Gentry: Leaning trees and oatmeal cookies | Columnists | times-georgian.com - Times-Georgian
https://ift.tt/2CmfU4u
Cookies
No comments:
Post a Comment