Good-bye Summer (a late season pruning)

It was an odd day as we sweated into the 90s for one final time. Of course what better way to spend a hot, humid day than lug dozens of sheets of drywall from the lumber yard to my truck to the house?

Earlier in the day as we tried to finish up a job (with the painter rolling on paint just inches behind us), the four of us were complaining about remodeling jobs and the endless repairs and cleanup. We joked that our lives were starting to sound like country music songs. This prompted the painter to turn on a (maybe the only) country music station. About three songs into its playlist we were all struck by the very type of song that we all claimed to despise. I don’t know the name of the song, but its lyrics went something like this: I hate my job, I hate my life, if it we’re for my two kids, I’d hate my ex-wife. What a classic! This brought tears of joy to all of our eyes. Maybe life isn’t so bad—ah the power of country music.

After rush, rush, rushing all day long, I got home just in time to sit down in front of the tube and watch the upcoming storm reports. When it got pitch black and the winds started blowing and the TV started beeping we decided to hit the basement. We later found out that the winds at a local (three miles away) airport were reported at 68 MPH. No wonder it was hard to open the front door for our daughter as she and her friend rain for our house. (I can’t imagine what 100 + MPH winds must feel like.) We haven’t noticed any damage to our house or vehicles, but our trees got a good pruning. There are a fair share of two plus inch branches laying around the yard.

As we looked out the windows after surfacing from the basement, we noticed that most of our neighbors were without power. Our small island of three houses was the fortunate one. A fire truck showed up at the end of the block. Since the rain was letting up I ventured out to check things out. It was parked near a power pole that had a wire dangling through a tall tree. The firemen were standing near the base of the tree and across the street just watching. I don’t know if they were waiting for the power company to show up or just waiting for the wire to burn up. It appeared as a line of fire with ashes raining down below. Cars would drive down the street, move to the middle of the road to avoid the fire truck, and then veer right again, only to have ashes bounce off their tops and trunks. If the ashes were falling in front of the vehicles, so they could be seen, most would slam on their breaks. It was very odd.

Now I’m back inside and a second wave (or maybe third) is coming through. Upstairs the thunder is a lot louder. I haven’t listened to many of the news reports yet, but preliminary reports mentioned a few tornadoes, a lot of strong straight line winds, some good size hail, and some serious damage to a few homes and businesses.

Welcome autumn.