I had good intentions, but you know what they say about the road to hell. I intended to get those last couple boxes from my closet emptied. I intended to get outside and do some intensive weeding. But last Sunday, I was revisited by an old malady that hadn't bothered me in six months.
It stayed through Tuesday. I had every symptom known to accompany this affliction over the course of the three days. On the flipside, I got the three best nights' sleep I'd had in ages. And my mother was thrilled because I lay on the couch and watched TV with her.
By Wednesday I was feeling good and would have started on those boxes, except that I had an appointment at 2:00 p.m. I hate afternoon appointments. I end up killing time before I have to leave, but get nothing accomplished because I don't want to get dirty or sweaty. But I don't want to go anywhere because I'm afraid I'll be late for the appointment. By the time I got home and we ate dinner, I was just too tired to clean out boxes. Besides, I had crops to harvest and baby animals to feed!
On Thursday, my mother had an appointment with her doctor. That went well, actually. It was a late morning appointment, so I was happier about that. We got right in and the doctor was in the room within minutes. He took her concerns seriously and gave us a 'script for a test. But going anywhere with my mother is, well, tedious. Mostly because she's very slow. It's not her fault, but it is what it is, so there you are. We got home by noon, but then I had another problem to deal with.
My cat, Chloe (who's 16 years old) has not been doing very well. She's lost some weight and she didn't have very much to start with! So I spent the afternoon encouraging her to eat some canned chicken and turkey. No, not canned cat food, real chicken and turkey. And I had to watch her because the other "old girl," Jessicat, kept wanting to steal it. (FYI, Jessie is stealing Chloe's chicken right now as I type this. But no worries, there's not much left and it's dried out now.) But, on the plus side, Chloe did eat. And she's drinking and using the litter box. I'm still prepared if she declines again, but I'm hoping she's got another year or so.
Friday started out warm and got hotter. I got a pretty good routine going for Chloe's feedings, but it was just too hot to work upstairs. When it did start to cool down, wow! Mother Nature really let us have it with both guns! First, the sky got that funny color like a tornado was coming. The wind whipped the trees around and the I prayed the banging on the roof was twigs and such and NOT the shingles coming off! Thunder sent most of the cats into hiding. The rain was so hard, it sounded like hail. After the first wave passed, I checked the weather, but it was still kind of warm and had added humidity to it. There was a short time when I opened the window and had delightfully cool breezes blowing through the upstairs. But it was getting late by then, so I didn't want to start anything I couldn't finish the same day. Then it rained again and I had to close the window.
So this morning I got up to a bright, sunshiney day. I opened the window but within an hour I could feel it getting very warm. When I looked down on the driveway, I could see the garbage container lids, twigs, leaves and other debris strewn from one end of the driveway to the other. And everything was soaking wet. Lovely. After breakfast, I grabbed my library tote bag full of books to return, told my mother I would "pick up some of the bigger twigs" in the driveway and go to the library. "I won't be gone long." I said. Hah! Famous last words!
The view from my bedroom was just a small piece of the mess good ol' MN had made during her tantrums the night before. There should be a word to describe enormous twigs. Oh yeah, they're called branches!
I don't know how my daughter had been able to drive on this stuff without puncturing a tire! I spent the next half-hour picking up the biggest pieces. That would be anything bigger than say, an inch around! Then I went into the backyard. *I need to pause here to say "thank you" to my father for putting up two sheds in the backyard.* Okay, I'm back. The electrical wire that was draped over the sheds had been knocked down by a falling branch. Oops, did I say branch? No, what fell on the wire, then tumbled to the ground behind the bigger shed was a tree! Well, it wasn't a whole tree, but the piece of tree that fell is definitely bigger than my car--both in length and in breadth! I think the wire and the shed worked together to keep either from being totally ruined. The shed kept the wire from being pulled out of the house and the wire kept the shed from being smashed in.
By this time, I've been out of the house for 45 minutes and I haven't even left yet! I picked up a piece of branch about four feet long and maybe three inches in diameter. I went back in the house with it. Tabitha stretched up on her hind legs to inspect this strange thing that I dared to bring in. My mother was still in the kitchen so I just stood in the doorway between the utility room and the kitchen, holding the branch. When she looked up, I said, "This is a tiny piece of the mess that's out there." Then, as an aside, I said, "Please call ComEd and tell them we have a line down in our backyard." I went out the door to the driveway, shoved the branch in a garbage can (no, it didn't fit, but I didn't care) and left for the library.
When I got back, I thought about those pictures you see on the news when they show an area that was hit by a tornado. Or the aftermath of a hurricane. Lining the street on both sides, my busy neighbors had cut and dragged their own downed branches to the edge of the street. (We don't have curbs.)
Tomorrow, I'll get up a little earlier, grab the chainsaw and have at that sucker in the back yard. I'll drag the pieces to line them up along the street like everyone else. Monday is yard waste pickup. I think they're going to need a bigger truck. And the wood chipper. These guys are in for some serious overtime!
Now THIS is some serious wood chipping! (Click the picture to play video.)
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