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| Lost to the storm was a stand of very old majestic hemlocks |
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| Weeping Willow |
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| Downed tree in driveway |
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| Turning right out of our driveway |
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| Turning left out of the driveway |
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| We were trapped and not able to get out for a few days |
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| Such a shame these beautiful old trees didn't make it |
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| Just another section of fence to be replaced |
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| "Old Faithful" I'm so happy this tree made it through the storm. Not because it is only a few feet from the front door but because it is the oldest maple tree in town and it is gorgeous no matter what season it sees us through. |
We are still without power, phone or cable but we're doing okay. If it weren't for the generator I'd
be pulling my hair out by now. The cleanup crews were terrific and had us out in record time once
they started working on our area. There had to be about twenty men and women working from
either side to clear the road. The next day the electricity crew came and put the wires back on
poles. So I'm assuming once everything is in place they will flip the switch and we'll be out of the
dark. Sounds easy doesn't it?
I've got to tell a story about something that happened yesterday. I'm really annoyed about it and
it has me wondering what is wrong with people. My son was in a Dunkin Donuts getting coffee a
few towns over and a tree working crew came in for coffee and a break. The young
moderns in there started yelling at the guys to get out and get back to work clearing their streets
of trees and get power back on. How obnoxious and entitled is that!!!?? The guys told them if
they didn't like it they could pack up and go back to their own state and leave them to figure it out
on their own. Good for them. I was glad to hear that my son bought the crew coffee and donuts
as a thank you for all the work they are doing. Most of these guys are working
around the clock to get us up and running. The crew that cut us out was from Jacksonville,
Fla. and were the nicest bunch of guys you would want to meet. My question is why do some of
these younger folks think it's okay to talk and act that way towards people who are helping them.
Do they think they are talking to the help? Do they feel they are entitled to be rude? I'm
wondering what kind of parenting went on that they would be so comfortable taking a belligerent
attitude to others. Okay, I could go on and on but I just wanted to get that off my chest.
The above pictures don't really show the total devastation around us but I didn't take pictures of
all the smaller trees and fallen limbs. Our one neighbor had twelve good sized trees come down,
one was actually leaning on the back of his house. I've been watching a tree crew go up in the
bucket daily and take it down piece by piece. I plan on calling my tree guys on Monday now that
they can get in to help with the clean up.
Hope everyone still without power gets back on line soon. Take care.
Until next time
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| I'm pretty sure this is a fake picture of Hurricane Sandy before landfall but I like it anyway. |
I like that fake picture too! It captures the spirit well.
ReplyDeleteI'm horrified at your story from Dunkin Donuts, some young fold these days think they have a god-given right to walk all over others.
Such a shame about your old trees, but time and nature will fill in the holes left behind.
Hope you get your power back soon before they have to call in the guys in white coats for you!
If they do have to call the guys in white coats with a net for me at least they'll be able to get through now ;)
DeleteWow. Sorry to see so many trees down, but glad that you and yours are OK.
ReplyDeleteJust reading your story about those people in the donut shop got my blood up. What a bunch of ***holes. Nice that your son bought the crew their coffee and donuts....shows that he was raised right. :-)
I couldn't believe it when he told me about their behavior . I only wish I was there because I have no qualms about saying something to idiots like that. Unfortunately, I've dealt with some very snotty young girls in a few places of business around here. Thanks for saying my son was raised right...I hope so it wasn't always easy but lord knows I've tried :)
DeleteHoly Mackerel. There is a lot of damage up by you. That is what it looked like after the Derecho down here. I am glad that you have a generator, as that is a very long time to go without power.
ReplyDeleteThe story about the rude people is very frustrating. Even though I have seen it before, I am always shocked when adults behave so badly, even young adults. Maybe they have never done physical labor before or maybe they come from families that treat household staff poorly. Either way, it is very sad. All of the teachers that I work with try to demonstrate and instill good character qualities in our students, because that is a very important part of a young person's education.
I applaud your son for buying their donuts and coffee. You done good, Mom!
I applaud teachers for helping to instill good character qualities in school. I think it should be taught at home and reinforced by adults the children meet. I've seen plenty of adults with bad behavior and am surprised by what they think they can get away with. Oh we'll, I'm not going to change any of it but I was just so angry when my son told me about how they were treating the work crew.
DeleteYou're not kidding about being trapped! As for the rescue crews, that is the second story I've heard like that. A very sad statement coming from a real jerk.
ReplyDeleteWhy would anyone kick someone in the head that is there to help them?
Good for your son. Hope that switch gets flicked real soon.
It is a sad statement on behavior nowadays. The work crews are still working at the top of our driveway today so I'm hopeful about that switch.
DeleteSo sad to lose so many grand old "friends", but I am glad you are all safe. We were so lucky that the storm went over us rather then through us in upstate NY. Seems like every time there is a disaster like this, it brings out the best and the worst of people. I hope you have power again soon, that is so hard. Especially with animals to care for.
ReplyDeleteIt is sad to lose our "old friends". My husband said he never saw anyone get attached to trees like I can. I do have my favorites though, silly as that may seem to some. I'm sure we will have power soon they are working round the clock.
ReplyDeleteWow. Thanks for the pictures. That is so crazy. I am glad to hear that everyone made it thought safe. It is terrifying when you see the damage trees can do.
ReplyDeleteIt got a little scary during the storm because we have so many giant trees so close to the house. But we were lucky and none of them came down. Thanks for the good thoughts.
DeleteI'm proud of your son for buying the crew coffee and donuts. Those people are working around the clock.Glad that you are free to move about again - I feel the same way about our trees. We lost our big "Piney" in the front yard and it looks so weird when I glance out the window now. Got our power back today. But they are predicting a N'oreaster for Wednesday with snow maybe-Please let them be wrong!!
ReplyDeleteHi Victoria,
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you got your power back! That's great, hopefully we will be right behind you. I heard about the new storm but I have decided they will be wrong. We just can't take another hit right now. So positive thoughts all around for no new storms this week.
Ditto on all remarks above about those obnoxious kids in the donut shop. When you wrote about the trees down on the road the other day, you weren't exaggerating. No wonder your husband had to go cross country to get out out.
ReplyDeleteHi Annette,
DeleteI've got to give the work crews credit for getting us out. We are grateful. The people in the donut shop weren't exactly kids they were 20-30 something's . Still obnoxious but they should know better.
It's terrible how some feel like they have the right to treat others like they aren't even people. No doubt those guys have been working non-stop since the storm and deserved some coffee and donuts. The youths might have been frustrated because they don't have power yet either, but still they should have offered to buy their coffee and joked they were bribing the crew to take care of their house first. You catch more flies with honey...
ReplyDeleteWow, you guys lost a lot of trees. Now I feel really, really lucky we didn't get a direct hit.
I guess by calling this gang young snobs I misled everyone into thinking they were kids. They weren't. They were adults probably about your age. These days everyone younger than forty I seem to call a kid. That happens the older you get. :)
ReplyDeleteRude and obnoxious behaviour isn't just the territory of the young, unfortunately there seems to be a whole breed of people out there with an overgrown sense of entitlement and a self-centred attitude. You can be proud of your son, I hope mine will be the same in a few years from now.
ReplyDeleteLooking at your photo's really shows how lucky you were that all of you came through unhurt and that your house wasn't damaged. But I'd miss those trees too!
It really boggles my mind that these adults thought they had a right to yell at the workers. It would have never entered my mind even when I eas younger. Then again if I tried something like that my mother would have given me something else to think about!
DeleteAfter looking at all of those downed trees, I can't help but wonder what it must have sounded like. Could you actually hear the crackling and falling of the trees? Or did the wind drown out that sound? Either way, I would have been terrified. I'll admit, I've been pretty sheltered (pardon the pun) when it comes to bad storms like that. We had a windstorm a few years ago, and I think I experienced some pretty strong gusts, around 30 to 40 for about a 15 minute period. I scurried the kids into the center most bathroom. Then it was over. I think we lost a couple shingles, never lost power. Good grief! I couldn't wait for my husband to get home. I'm a wimp.
ReplyDeleteAs for those characters at the donut shop? Well, the only words that come to mind, are not for public viewing.
Mary,
DeleteIt sounded like a freight train or an airplane landing on the roof! There were lots of branches flying around and hitting the house. Unfortunately, I'm used to hurricanes after all these years. I do have to say that this one was one of the worst I've encountered though.
We go out of our way to thank the teams who come to help after hurricanes (a fairly regular occurrence lately). I bet you would have read those rude #@&*$%s the riot act!!
ReplyDeleteBummer that your lovely farm suffered all that tree damage - yay hearty king maple!! Glad your generator has kept things going for you while you wait for utilities to come back.
Thinking of you!
I think you probably have to deal with hurricanes more than we do. I worry about you being on an island especially with flooding. Just glad you and yours are ok. When we lived on Long Island it was always a dicey situation since we lived close to the Great South Bay and ocean. And yes I might have had a few choice words for those rude jerks.
DeleteFinally running on generator and portable hot spot wifi. No power here since the storm. I lucked out and just had some big limbs down. One tree did land on my fence splitting the post, but made no escape route for the horses. Fixing that will wait for another day. I may just nail the fence rails to the tree.
ReplyDeleteGlad they got you out, that is some pretty heavy devastation. There was a tree down across our road in only one direction. I think they may have started dealing with it today--Sunday. Not sure how much other stuff has to be fixed before we have power again.
Out of state guys here too but I'm not sure from where. I plan to investigate tomorrow. I'd be happy to buy them coffee.
Glad to hear you finally got your generator working. I've been using my iPad to get news and whatnot. Doesn't sound like you have too much damage to the property which is good.
DeleteMaybe they will get you up and running sooner than planned (I read your post)and hope it will be before next Friday. Good luck and stay warm.
There's an old southern saying that goes like this: your mama raised you right. I've never said it using those exact words but I think they fit perfectly directed to your son! :)
ReplyDeleteHope things continue to get back toward normal for you and family/herd.
Thanks for the compliment billie. Over the years people have said to me "you're so lucky to have all good kids" to which I say "Luck had nothing to do with it there was a lot of hard work involved" ;)
DeleteSad to see your big trees topple but glad none landed on your house or your barn. Nature has a way with these things and it is best to step out of the way.
ReplyDeleteYour son did the right thing by the Florida crew and I hope they left Dunkin' Donuts with a better impression than they came in with. On the other hand, those guys have a lot of experience with idiots so hopefully, they just chalked it up to stupid is/as stupid does.
Batten down the hatches. There is more a'comin!
d.j.,
DeleteIt is sad to see the older trees go but we are all safe and that's what counts. I'm hoping that they are wrong about the next storm. I just don't feel like dealing with it again.
Just ... Wow. So sad to see such devastation. And Wow to the rude young men. One wants to ask why they are not helping out...
ReplyDeleteHi Margaret,
DeleteWe did have a lot of destruction but hopefully we'll get it cleared up soon. And it wasn't only men but women too. Imagine the gall it takes to be like that.
...they were volunteers! I just can't begin to comprehend.
DeleteMe either but that's the way some people are ii guess.
DeleteCheers for you son and his appreciation to the crews. One does wonder about the those that lack appreciation and assume the world belongs to them.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you are safe and the horses are fine. I can only imagine what it must be like to ride out such a storm. Too bad about the trees. They are a piece of history. But it is terrific that "Old Faithful" is still there! Your photos certainly are worth the "1000 words".
I'm certainly happy that "old faithful" made it through. I really love that tree.
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