Late one night a couple months ago, the wind was howling so loud and so suddenly that Jay and I jumped out of bed and I ran to the back window to try to figure out what I was hearing while Jay watched from the other side of the bed. We stood there confused for maybe 5-10 seconds until we heard a huge crash, then we bolted downstairs to check on the kids. The noise hadn't sounded like anything had hit the house, but still. Once we knew the kids were ok, we grabbed the flashlights and looked out the front and back windows. We finally realized what had happened... the huge, old, rotting tree in the front yard alongside the driveway, that we've been worried about since we bought the house, had fallen. It was starting to rain at this point, but we went outside to take a look. Somehow, the tree was whipped around and landed down the length of the driveway, missing the house, carport, and even the birdfeeder. I don't know how we got so lucky, but we are so thankful.
The next morning we took a closer look, then quickly called into work to tell them we had to take a personal day (we couldn't get the cars out of the driveway).
The wind also whipped the kids' swing up around the tree it hangs from:
Here is a close-up of the damage to the driveway (miraculously, the only damage the property suffered other than a few other branches knocked down by the top of the fallen tree):
When the kids got up, they were shocked. James and Buster posed for a scale picture for me:
Not long after that, calls and texts from friends and coworkers started rolling in and a plan was put in place for getting the tree somewhat cleared (off the driveway enough that we could at least get our cars out). Chainsaws were sharpened (over and over), carloads of folks arrived, and the mess was chipped away, hour by hour.
And THEN, my boss' wife went to the store and purchased the makings for hot dogs and hamburgers and sides, and we fired up the grill (power was out) and got all those volunteers fed. I was so grateful for her generosity and all the help we received. For not having family around, we are VERY lucky to have such a wonderful community of friends!!
Towards the end of the day, our neighbor arrived with his brother's tractor to help up push the main section of the tree (too wide for any of our chainsaws to get through) off to the side of the driveway, where it would then sit for a few weeks...
In July, Bobby, Nathan, and Nate came over after work one evening (when Cora babysat baby Ella) with a wood splitter and a long bar chainsaw to take care of the remaining tree (and take some of the wood home, because we certainly didn't need it all!)
So much sawdust...
That following weekend, the kids helped collect some of the sawdust (to make firestarters with), we moved and piled the freshly split wood, and Jay started burning and trimming the remaining stump.
