Thursday, July 11, 2013

Aftermath of the Storm, Clean-up

My back yard. The picture doesn't do the mess justice.
Meg's back yard after the storm.


What do you think? We do have plenty of eagles around this area, but we also have plenty of hawks.
 On Wednesday morning around 1am it stormed to beat the band. My little Trixie does this little bark, bark, bark, long before I hear the first rumble of thunder. She knew it was coming, then I knew it was coming. I was trying to fall asleep, but when the storm hit the little bark becomes a full blown annoying rampage of serious barking that lasts till the storm has passed. I don't know what she thinks she can accomplish by doing that. Then Chewy chimes in and there is no rest for the wicked. Trixie has been with us almost 8 years.......8 years of storm barking, trying to sleep with the pillow over your head.

Then Wednesday afternoon around 3pm another storm, this one greater than the earlier one. Only this time I was babysitting my little grandson and sitting in the basement of my daughter's next door neighbor's (Wayne & Dee's) house. My daughter doesn't have a basement and thank God her next door neighbor does. When we came out of the basement Wayne pointed to a tree that was completely uprooted out by their tennis court and another big tree limb that was down between the houses. Dee noticed that the storm had taken their screens right off of some of their first floor windows. The electrical power was off.  I left then to see what damage was next door at my daughter's house.

There were about 6-7 roof shingles lying around the yard, her umbrella table and chairs were all blown up toward the house and the glass from the table was laying next to the table frame. There were smaller limbs and leaves all over the yard. The neighborhood looked to be a mess. When she got home she mentioned all the damage over at Birchard Park which is located one street over from Hayes Avenue where President Rutherford B. Hayes's home and memorial are located. This neighborhood is a historical landmark area and has many huge trees that have been there since President Hayes's time in office. They have a huge Civil War re-enactments on the grounds complete with tents and campfires, etc. every year and one is coming up soon. Rachael told me that the park with all it's huge trees doesn't even look like a park anymore because of all the wind damage.

The bird was wet, it kept fanning it's tail feathers to dry them out. Eagle or hawk?

It took me 45 minutes to get home. I have to cross the Sandusky River and it was raging. One route was blocked with fallen trees all over the road. I had to turn around and come back the way I came to take an alternate route. When I got home my power was off, the garage door would not open. I left myself in the house and the dogs were glad to see me. I had so many sticks and leaves all over the driveway and the yard, but no fallen trees thank goodness. My next door neighbor had a decorative crab apple tree out of the ground, their neighbor on the other side had several trees down.

I called my brother Mike and his community had a tornado. Trees down everywhere, some on houses. There were windows blown out of a store down town. His neighborhood is fairly new and so the trees are smaller, some leaves and branches down but no real damage to anything.

This morning I went out and started the clean up job. I swear, I do not know why I don't have the slimmest waistline in the country, I know I picked up a million sticks and smaller limbs, leaves and tree bark. Now I should not complain, every bit of the stuff I picked up on the one side of the house belonged to the dead trees in the neighbor's woods next to our property, we have no trees over there. My sciatic nerve pain is screaming at me now. I am sore and this is not the end of all this. Tomorrow I go to my youngest daughter's house and help her with the mess in her yard. A neighbor's tree fell in her yard and she has a mess over there with all her walnut trees. Our weather has improved today. The humidity has improved. We had about 18 days straight of severe thunderstorms. Walking in the yard is like walking on a wet sponge, and the low spots are like a marsh. I won't be mowing till maybe Saturday........Then Sunday I will rest. I need it, I'm beat.


I did find this feather out in the yard. Looks almost like polka dots doesn't it? Now, I wonder what kind of bird that feather came from?

I didn't post any damage pictures of my back yard. I don't want to see anymore sticks or branches please, unless they are still attached to the trees, and the trees are still upright. I think you get the idea from seeing Meg's yard. There was plenty of that all around.

Have a good weekend ♥


14 comments:

  1. Oh dear...Mother Nature's fury...there is nothing that beats it! Your dog's reaction...poor babies...they just don't understand! I've thought about how scary all that noise has to be to our poor little furry friends...I have one that couldn't care less and one that trembles and sits on my foot! This is a heavenly situation compared to what we once had. When we moved to Virginia (from California) nine years ago, we brought two Gooden Retrievers with us. We moved in late July and had noted that one of them had a big reaction to fireworks in the neighborhood that particular year. He was four yrs old and hadn't shown such reactions before. That should have been a big warning for us of what was to come with thunderstorms in VA! The first storm we had, we put both dogs in the garage to protect them. We heard noise in the garage and went out to find the one had eaten through the ducts of the air conditioner/heating unit and was deep inside the duct system. My husband was barely able to get to him and pull him out. Five hundred dollars later, it was repaired. This was only the beginning of a downhill slide with him. We would put him in a dog crate, he would literally eat his way out through that heavy material that make up the crate. We bought a six hundred dollar metal dog crate, he bent the bars on the door to try to escape...cutting his mouth and landing him in the ER. We tried doggy Xanax, t-shirts tied securely in him to calm him, a dog therapist...you name it, we explored that route. All he wanted was to be with us if it was storming. But since we both worked,my hat wasn't always possible. He even ate through the side of our house once day when we were at work and it stormed. Mind you, the garage door was always open so they could get in and out of the storm, but that wasn't good enough...he wanted/needed to find us! Poor baby, he was tortured. We dreaded...DREADED...storms or the threat of storms. The dollars that went into trying to help him! But nothing helped. We eventually realized the humane thing to do was put him to sleep so he wouldn't suffer any longer. Heartbreaking! Such a sweet dog otherwise, but oh so tortured in storms or fireworks. So...I feel for you with the barking! I feel for you with the repeated rounds of fifty-two stick pick up! LOL. Hugs, Annette

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I read this the other day and just shook my head. That poor dog. How scared he was. I think you and your husband went above and beyond the call with trying desperately to help him. Experiences like this just shows me that there are still good people out there who don't give up until they have exhausted the last resort. I can see where you had to eventually do what was best. How sad. I read the book Marley. Your dog sounds a bit like that dog. If there is anyone out there who doesn't believe that these creatures experience fear just like humans do, then they have never gone through this sort of experience. Dog people especially know that our pets have senses that are much keener than ours, hence rescue dogs, bomb sniffing dogs and worker dogs for the handicapped. My dogs can hear when my brother starts to drive his truck up the driveway, and his truck is NOT loud. They know when someone is on the front stoop long before they ring the doorbell. They hear the thunder long before I do. They are my ADT Alarm System. They are so much more to me, my companions since my husband passed, my little greeters when I come home. Whether I have been gone all day or just minutes they are always happy to see me. They are work, and they are an expense to maintain, but they are loyal friends who care not if you are rich or poor, what you look like or if you have spent a long day out in the yard and smell like you need a shower, in fact they probably love ya more if you do stink, lol. I don't think you could go tell your troubles to anyone more loyal to not repeat what you say, other than God. They are one of God's creatures and sometimes the only thing that some people have in their lives that loves them. My sister-in-law's dog use to crawl under her bed about a half hour before the storm came. The dog had actually wore the carpet out under there. My friend in Florida, her Shepard goes into the bedroom closet hides and shakes. Maybe dogs view storms differently than we do, maybe they understand that the God of ALL creation is trying to tell us something, maybe they understand it all better than we do?
      (((BIG HUGS))) God Bless You friend, Susanne ♥

      Delete
  2. P.S. I see auto correct on my iPad changed up what I wrote above...I'm not illiterate...it's the auto correct...honest! "My hat" was supposed to be the word "that". Hahaha

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh my Susanne - I'm glad no one was hurt and that there wasn't real bad damage in your yard and your daughter's yard. My dogs Ladybug and Tex absolutely do not like storms either - they don't bark though, they just cower and shake like crazy. Try not to do too much work and take lots of breaks in between. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am so glad too, and thankful. We have had tornadoes on either side of our county in the past, one recently as about 2 weeks ago, just 1 road over. It took out many tree tops. I have spent a lot of time watching thunder clouds, but of course when these storms hit at night you aren't able to see anything. We are enjoying much less humidity but the humidity is suppose to be on the rise starting again tomorrow and so .....here we go again. Today I will be mowing grass, usually I try to mow on Fridays, but the yard is still pretty wet from all the rain.
      (((HUGS))) Susanne ♥

      Delete
  4. It has really been an odd summer everywhere. Not much sunshine even for us the last few days. We have been overcast and even a little rainy which is really strange for us in July. I am glad you are ok. Must have been very scary.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree with you, we have had a lot of strange weather here as well, and unfortunately it seems to becoming more threatening and violent. Guess we have no choice but to deal with what comes whether we like it or not. Not all days can be sunny, but the ones that are are still welcome.

      Delete
  5. Oh my goodness, I am so glad you are all safe. The storm sounds horrible and the damage so bad. I am now wondering how my son has fared in Columbus, was it bad there too? He is a man of few words so I wouldn't know from him. Rest and relax and try to take care of that sciatic pain.
    Hugs to you my sweet friend,
    Meredith

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't know about Columbus, but there were storms south of us, not sure how far south. Maybe if you were to Google in "Columbus Ohio weather report" you could find out what is to be expected for that area. My sister-in-law lives south of Dayton and north of Cincinnati, kinda in between, and there are times they get some severe storms. I truly think just about everyone in Ohio has been getting this crazy weather for the past 2 weeks. Thank God we have a nice several days of lower humidity. It is suppose to be start steaming up again tomorrow (Sunday) and the chance of storms will increase for this coming week, so here we go again. Right now our county is under flood watches and warnings. I have a school chum who lives, of all places, right next to the river, and the water is up to her lower deck steps.....she says it is receding now, but these folks have been dealing with the flooding for ages. They should have built their house on stilts.
      (((HUGS))) Susanne ♥

      Delete
    2. Oh my goodness, such horrible weather. I swear it is crazy everywhere. We had a tornado near us the other day, and a water spout out in the bay that headed on shore and knocked over some trees in someones yard. Stay safe my friend.

      Delete
  6. Storm devastation is sad to see. Thank God you're alright. The aftermath work is a headache. Wish all those affected will be settled.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is a mess to clean up, but I am so blessed, there are people who are dealing with trees down on their houses and others who have had wind and water damage. I can thank God that all my woes were just picking up the sticks and leaves in my yard. I helped my daughter for almost 3 hours yesterday and she had friends coming later that afternoon to help some more. Someone, some kind soul, cut some of the smaller tree limbs with a chainsaw, and stacked the wood up at the back of her property while she was gone to work. Now how kind was that, how good that someone helped her and she doesn't even know who it was. There are still good people on this earth.
      (((HUGS))) Susanne ♥

      Delete
  7. Suzanne-- oh dear--- I'm terrified of storms. Poor little doggie-/ I know how he feels. I've been on the clean up end before and I totally get the quandary of picking up a million sticks!! I'm glad the damage was just superficial-- sounds like you were very lucky--

    Thank you for visiting my little yarn room-- I'm so grateful for your visit--
    Vicki

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I enjoyed your post and can understand why you love your working area. It is comforting to surround oneself with pretty little bobbles and trinkets. These are things we never seem to tire of. Love it!

      Delete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
~WRITE IT ON YOUR HEART................
THAT THE ONES YOU LOVE ARE LIFE'S MOST PRECIOUS GIFTS~