HURRICANE IRENE

I won't soon forget Hurricane (Tropical Storm) Irene.  We are fine and our home is fine, but the landscape of our property will never be the same.  Many of our trees suffered serious damage and one, very special tree, was pulled out by the roots and destroyed by the wind.  It was an Ornamental Plum tree with deep purple, red leaves that adorned our back walkway, providing us with a canopy of shade and privacy.  We planted it as a family 20 years ago, when our children were very young.  The memory's associated with this tree and our children are as clear as if we had planted the tree yesterday.  I can't fully express the loss.  It was like losing a dear friend.  I know that we are very lucky and that there are many, many others who have suffered greater losses, but as my wise friend Nan said "That doesn't diminish your loss."  This past week and a half, Pete and I have worked diligently, cleaning up the mess left by this storm.  We have picked up buckets of debris and tree limbs.  Pete has been using a chain saw to manage the bigger stuff and the smaller branches we have burned in the fire pit.  Pete used the chain saw to remove our beautiful tree.  Piece by piece, it was hauled to our "Compost Heap."  The Heap is a location at the rear of our property where we dispose of larger compostable materials such as brush, larger tree limbs and Christmas trees.  This has become the final resting place for our beloved tree and here it's branches will provide a refuge for birds and other wildlife during the cold winter months.  Eventually, our tree will decompose and be RECYCLED to the earth.  You know what they say about life giving you lemons...well, this is our way of making lemonade.  This weekend, Pete and I will make new memory's and we will plant a new tree, a new friend to someday provide us with a beautiful canopy of shade and privacy.